Yeah I was completely floored by how well it did. The only thing I would change about is is MAYBE the Pain Seers. I know they drew a lot of attention off of my actual threats, but they never drew me a card, and having to wait 2 entire turns before he could even possible replace himself just seems meh, not to mention every game that I actually used my SB, he was the first thing to go.
I am not too sure about option 2, but bigger beefier creatures could definitely be a valid option, especially Mogis, which has built in removal and/or passive damage.
So I attended both Game Day events yesterday, and had superb results during each event, placing 2nd at the first one due to bad deck variance, and then winning the second event with an alternate deck I built in the hour or so between events. Below is my deck lists and a small report of each Tournament.
Opponent was playing an odd controlish shell relying on stalling the game out with Removal and counters, along with Gaze of Granite then finishing with either Kiora, the Crashing Wave or Vraska the Unseen. He took game 1 because I got land flooded and only saw 5 spells the entire game. After that, I sided out my Caryatids and Coursers for Duress, Sin Collector, and Banishing Light, and went for the long game. Ended up winning both of the next games on the back of Blood Baron and Advent of the Wurm after drawing all 6 Sin Collectors/Duress both games and putting him into top deck mode.
Round 2 vs. Blue Weenies (2-1)
Opponent is using a budget list he claims comes in at under $20 retail, using a bunch of 1-2 CMC little guys and Halls of Triumph. Game one, he has a good draw and puts out a swarm of guys along with Halls and a Bident of Thassa, and I cant draw removal to save my life. Game 2 and 3, I side in Bile Blight and Banishing Light just to have more removal, and end up winning via a massive Scavenging Ooze both times.
Round 3 vs B/r Midrange (2-0)
Opponent is using some kind of home made brew with a bunch of odd choices. I quickly 2-0 him with double Blood Barons game 1, and then Archangle/Scooze/Courser game 2. Not sure what the opponents deck was supposed to really do, I saw a total of 8 different nonland cards through both games.
Round 4 vs. Nythos Green (2-1)
Opponent is my Room mate using a deck I had just helped him finish building, and playtest against. Game 1, I have all the answers to his Big dudes, and I finish him off with a massive ScOoze. I side in my Lifebane Zombies and Banishing Lights for games 2 and 3. Game 2, he gets me down to 2 life before I stabilize with removal against his field. I get out the combo of Courser/ScOoze/Archangle/Blood Baron against him, and gain 17 life in a single turn, getting him down to 5. But I lose to his EoT monstrous Hydra Broodmother then Flash BoonSatyr bestow for exactly lethal. Worst Part, I had a Downfall in hand, but tapped out to eat his GY with my ScOoze, if i had just waited a turn, I coulda killed the Broodmother in response, and then swung back for the win. Game 3 though is a repeat of Game 1, along with him being behind after keeping a 2 land hand and not drawing the 3rd land until turn 4, by that time, I had my Lifebanes backed up with Ajani and just swung him down.
Round 5 vs. Mono-Blue Devotion (0-2)
Game one was just terrible. Was on the draw and I kept a 1-land opener that consisted of Temple of Malady, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Abrupt Decay, Banishing Light, Hero's Downfal and Ajani; but I couldnt get to a second land ever, after seeing Turn 4's draw being another non-land I just gave him the first game. Game 2 I sided in Nyx-Fleece Ram, Bile Blight, and Banishing Light and had an impressive game against him, but he overloaded a Cyclonic Rift, then dropped a Master of Waves and I couldnt answer it in time.
For the second tournament of the day, I built a super tight Aggro deck for a change of pace, and totally decimated the field. I didnt have a game go past Turn 6 until the final round, and even then I beat my opponent in under under 10 turns. Same as before, list and short Match-up review included.
One minor comment on this deck aside from the fact that the only thing I ever sided in was Duress and Slaughter Games, is that Pain Seer NEVER drew me a card, and Master of the Feast ALWAYS ended the games he was cast during. The one good thing about Pain Seer though, is that he always was the first target of any removal my opponents had, so I was glad to have him die as opposed to a Master or Herald. Also, on the Master of the Feast, even against Control I never sided him out; I was able to overload the board with so much beef, that even if they drew and extra card, the best they could do, was get rid of one guy a turn and I just outswarmed them.
Round 1 G/W Aggro (2-0)
Game 1 I open with Cackler, into Spike Jester, into Master of the Feasts then turn 4 Doom Blade his Brimaz and Swing through for game the following turn. I don't bother siding anything in, and Game 2 I open with Cackler, into double Gnarled Scarhide, into Mogis's Marauder, then turn 4 Dreadbore his Nyx-Fleece Ram and creatures for the game.
Round 2 Mono-Black Devotion (2-0)
Game 1 I open with the usual Cackler/Jester/Master curve and my opponent durdles with Pack Rats which get Dreadbore'd away. Game 2 I side Doom Blades for Ultimate Price, and Pain Seer for Duress, but take the game with my opening hand of Blood Crypt, Mana Confluence, Cackler x2, Scarhide x2, Dreadbore. My opponent opens with a Thoughtsieze taking the Dreadbore, then I open with my army of 1-drops. He resolves a pair of Pack Rats, but I top deck 2 removal spells in a row and he cant answer the beef.
Round 3 Black/Green Dredge (2-0)
This game goes almost exactly as the previous round, but he atleast manages to slow me down a little bit with Abrupt Decay and Bile Blights, but he cant find a threat and I land double Master of the Feasts on turns 5 and 6 which he cant answer. Game 2 I swap Doom Blade for Ultimate Price and end up taking him in 5 turns from a god hand. He cant answer any of my creatures either due to wrong removal or not having expected aggro, the only things I see from him in game 2 is a pair of Grisly Salvages, and 3 Satyr Wayfinders the latter of the which were met with my own removal spells.
Round 4 Esper Control (2-0)
Final round I am matched with my friend who is also undefeated at this point. Game 1 I curve out perfectly, while he gets stuck on a single white mana for a few turns, then cant find a verdict to stop me hard. After the longest game yet, 10 turns and a lot of Azorious Charms and Hero's Downfalls from his side, I finally get through with Master of the Feast to finish him. I side in the Duress and Slaughter Games inplace of the Pain Seers and Doom Blades for Game 2, and my opener has a Duress, 2 Cacklers, 1 Scarhide, a Slaughter Games and 2 lands. This is the final game of the match.
Turn 1 - Me: Blood Crypt, Duress him. He reveals a Verdict, D Sphere, Blood Baron and 4 lands. I call the Sphere to protect my 2 Cacklers for later.
Turn 1 - Him: U/W Scryland, bottoms the card and pass.
Turn 2 - Me: Draw a Spike Jester. Mana Confluence, Double Cacklers Unleashed.
Turn 2 - Him: He another U/W scryland, bottoms it and passes.
Turn 3 - Me: Draw another Duress. Duress him. Reveals 2x Downfalls and the BBV and Verdict from earlier. I take the Verdict then play Jester and swing for 7.
Turn 3 - Him: U/W Shock tapped, then passes.
Turn 4 - Me: Draw a Swamp. Swing with team, he Charms my Jester to the top but takes the rest. Play the swamp and my other 1-drop in hand. Then pass.
Turn 4 - Him: He plays ANOTHER U/W Scryland and bottoms what he sees, then passes.
Turn 5 - Me: Draw the Spike Jester, play it, then Swing. He Celestial Flares, i sac a Cackler and he takes another 7.
Turn 5 - Him: He plays a Mutavault then passes.
Turn 6 - Me: I Top deck a Swamp, and Swing with my team. He animates the Mutavault and blocks the Spike Jester, Takes 4 down to 2 life remaining. I play the Swamp and Slaughter Games for Blood Baron.
Turn 6 - Him: He draws his card and scoops.
Now, I know if my opponent wouldnt have been color screwed both games I probably would have had more trouble, but I have to admit this deck did some nice things. I was very impressed with it in every match up, and didnt have to worry about anything my opponents did, I just kept turning my dudes sideways and went undefeated for a sweet Xenagod playmat.
An interesting idea, but I have a few opinions/insights on it, as well as changes I would make before considering it as playable.
1) Since the "exile stuff, then play it" style clauses are spread across almost every color except green, I would consider making this guy/girl 3 colors, either Esper UWB or America RWU preferrably.
2) For an effect this potentially strong, I would have this Planeswalker closer to Elspeth, Sun's Champion level of power and CMC, it feels like this is something you use to finish a game via sheer card advantage, and not something to durdle behind for a few turns, then use an ult for some card advantage. It should have a giant "KILL ME NOW OR LOSE!!" sign on it from the moment you cast it.
As reference to my points, I will provide an example or two using my opinions.
Makeshift, the Omen Scrawl 3UWB
Planeswalker - Makeshift
+1: Exile the top three cards of target players library, you may put any of them back in any order.
-4: Exile all creatures target player controls. Return them to the battlefield at the end of turn.
-7: You get an Emblem with, "You may play cards exiled by ~ as though they were in your hand."
[5]
Makeshift, the Omen Scrawl 3RWU
Planeswalker - Makeshift
+1: Exile target permanent, then return it to the battlefield and gain control of it. It gains Haste. At the end of turn its owner gains control of it.
0: Exile the top card of your library. You may play it until end of turn.
-3: Return target exiled card you own to your hand.
-7: You get an Emblem with, "You may play cards exiled by ~ as though they were in your hand."
Nissa, Mother of Nature 1GG
Planeswalker - Nissa
+1: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, add an amount of green mana to your mana pool equal to its converted mana cost.
+1: Put a 2/3 Green Elf Warrior creature token onto the battlefield.
-X: Reveal the top X cards of your library. You may put any number of permanent cards with converted mana cost X or less from among them onto the battlefield. Then put all cards revealed this way that weren't put onto the battlefield into your graveyard.
[2]
My opinion on a Nissa 2.0.
First +1 is very synergistic with all the scry in Theros, as well as Synergy with Domri and Courser.
Second +1 is an homage to Nissa's Chosen from the original printing.
Ultimate is basically copy/paste of Genesis Wave, which could technically be used right away, but youd get little more than 1-2 lands and maybe a mana dork.
Baloth Pathfinder -- Runs cross purposes with Courser of Kruphix, but other than that I like it.
I was going for something more akin to Goblin Guide but as a beneficial effect instead of potentially helping the opponent, I agree he had non-synergy with Courser, but he is meant more of a replacement/alternative to him for this Standard.
Master Gladiator -- Too expensive for limited, and there isn't much in the way of equipment for standard now days. Might go well in modern.
I have several equipment included in this Core Set to go along with him, as well as a few throughout the Blocks I plan to create around it. I was going to something akin to Stoneforge Mystic, but less abuseable, along with using the "Double Strike and put stuff into play" mechanic on stuff like Warren Instigator and Prophetic Flamespeaker.
Enraged Goliath -- In what situation is someone going to let a 6/6 connect with them when they have creatures that could block? Without any evasion, his ability is pretty useless. I say give him trample and/or haste, That way chumping with their weakest creature isn't an out for them.
I tested him with Trample in just a generic RG Monsters shell by todays standards, and he was an absolute bomb every game he was played. Every time he connected, he wiped the enemy field and I won next turn. Giving him trample imo is too much, I might have to redesign him, but this is the best way I could balance him initially.
Chlorophyllic Colossus
I really like this guy. I'd play him. His activated ability probably should be more expensive (see Azure Mage). This may be the most powerful card of your set.
I had debated making the activated cost 1UG but I wasnt sure if that was as good, since Niv-Mizzet draws off of two mana, I could probably make that change easily enough.
Eater of the Dead -- This guys is a real workhorse. He'd definitely have an impact on standard. He get's big, removes your opponent's creatures, and draws cards all by himself. The activated abilities are probably undercosted - compare to Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Agree he seems like the biggest bomb of the whole group. I again already though of changing the cost of his abilities, which I might do for balance's sake.
Massacre Daemon -- Hmm, comparable to Doomwake Giant? But even with a smaller body, it has haste, gives -2/-2 instead of -1/-1 and doesn't require a deck built around it... it's going to be much better.
Was intending him to be more of an aggressive remake of Massacre Wurm, but I agree the Doomwake similarity is there.
Spellslinger Dragon -- The wording is a bit vague here, I suggest adding either 'reveal a instant or sorcery card from your hand' and 'until end of turn' or 'the next instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn is free' because you're not going to be casting a sorcery during combat phase. This guy would probably see more play if he were smaller and costed less, as a burnish deck with a whole bunch of cheap instants might not have enough mana to get to 5 reliably.
Yeah the wording on that is odd, I may change it to a reveal clause, I never even thought about the wording. Originally I had him as a 4 CMC 4/4 but that along with the free spell trigger seemed a little too pushed, and I dont know of any other Rare or higher Dragons under 4/4.
Hulking Abomination -- A very strong combination of Nighthowler, Consuming Abberation, and Splinterfright. 12 cards is a Lot! Perhaps there should be some work to get those 12 cards milled, or a condition - such as he mills the number of lands in play, or he mills the number of creatures in play, or he mills the number of cards in people's hands, or maybe equal to the the lowest amount of life any player has?
I am probably going to change him to a symetrical Mill during upkeep effect like Splinterfright, maybe 3 per player. Another idea was "mills equal to cards in GY" or "for each creature, sac unless they mill 3" but im not sure what im going to do with him yet.
Council of Eons -- This will take over games fast! Seems similar to both blood artist and pack rat. A very nice mana dump, if I've ever seen one.
Yeah he is a little powerful as of right now, I may change the token dump to cost more, as well as have an extra cost of either discard or Pay life. Either way, I definitely see him in a deck like Modern Soul Sisters, assuming thats a thing still.
Originally yes, I planned to do all 10 fetchlands, as a "everyone wants them reprinted, so why not," and also as a "I dont know a better way for good mana fixing outside of green."
I agree Version 1 and 3 seemed the most powerful, and would almost invalidate even the ABUR duals, I was just throwing the ideas i initially though of out there.
I did like the "Checkland" clause version as well, but it just seems a little weird and unwieldy, especially with Fetchlands being present, they may as well enter untapped anyways.
I agree version 4 seems the safest of those I posted, but it seems weaker than the vanilla Shard Tri-Lands from Alara.
Now, a real question for a Wedge block, outside of printing Wedge equivalents of Alara's Shardlands, and possibly even the Vivid Cycle again, is there any way to not just inherently hose any wedges dont include Green, short of every deck being 4 Color Goodstuff? Or maybe just do a rip-off mana base of Alara with allied Fetches as back-up.
So im in the middle of designing a Wedge themed block for a custom standard im working on, and I got to the land part of the design process. A few quick moments with Gatherer showed that there has only ever been one Wedge land printed previous, Murmuring Bosk.
My intention if I can figure out a way to do it, is to create a cycle of lands similar to this, for each wedge, but I have one problem, my block isnt Tribal focus, so the "reveal an X creature type" clause is completely irrelevant. Can anyong suggest an alternative that would be balanced enough so that a potential Tri-Land that come in untapped doesnt completely upset the market and sky-rockets to $300 due to Eternal formats?
Also, as a small bit of context as to this decision, in my custom Core Set, the full cycle of Fetchlands are reprinted which means these will be searchable with them.
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped unless you pay 2 life.
T: Add G or W to your mana pool, target opponent gains 1 life.
2) "Check clause" replacing Tribal requirement
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Forest or Plains.
T: Add G or W to your mana pool.
3) Drop it all together and leave the land as is.
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
T, Pay 1 life: Add G or W to your mana pool.
4) Dont let them ever ETB untapped.
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Pay 1 life: Add G or W to your mana pool.
This set is a hypothetical Core Set to go along two custom blocks I have plans on creating for my own custom Standard, so it wont see play alongside any current cards, excepting hypothetical Eternal formats. That being said, I know that how some of these interact with other pre-existing cards should be a factor, but I am designing for the interaction of this custom Standard as my main focal point.
Ok, so I have taken some of your advice, and changed a few things about these mythics, most of the changes are number tweaks, but a few have been changed substantially.
Seraph of Knowledge - Unchanged
Predator Baloth - Renamed to Baloth Pathfinder, and given new abilities
Baloth Pathfinder GW
Creature - Beast
Trample
Whenever Baloth Pathfinder attacks reveal the top card of your library. If that card is a land card put it into your hand.
3/3
Master Gladiator - Changed mana cost and reworked abilities
Master Gladiator 1RW
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike
When Master Gladiator deals combat damage to an opponent, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Golaith - Changed P/T and abilities
Enraged Goliath 4RG
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it fights each creature that player controls.
6/6
Chlorophyllic Colossus - Unchanged
Eater of the Dead - Complete Rework
Eater of the Dead 2BG
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, draw a card. 1G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead. 1B, Discard a card: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
3/3
Massacre Daemon - Complete rework
Massacre Daemon 3RB
Creature - Demon
Haste
Whenever Massacre Daemon enters the battlefield creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.
4/3
Spellslinger Dragon - Slight rework on abilities and mana cost.
Spellslinger Dragon 3UR
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flying, Haste
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand with converted mana cost three or less without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination - Reworked, but functionally the same
Hulking Abomination 2UB
Creature - Zombie Horror
Whenever Hulking Abomination enters the battlefield, target player puts the top twelve cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons - Total rework
Council of Eons 1WB
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life. WB: Put a 1/1 White and Black Spirit creature token with Flying onto the battlefield.
2/3
Fine as in printable, or fine as in playable? Im trying to have most of these Mythics be a serious contender for this Custom standards' decks. Preferably with at least half of them being staples in the decks that will exist once the full block is finished.
Predator baloth is too good. (not by much, but enough for me to say its a bad idea)
Is it the combination of abilities? or something else? I considered Flash over Lifelink, but figured Id go with Lifelink since its common in both colors.
Master gladiator is too good. Its fundamentally a can tripping hasty bear for 2 mana. That's too good. It also has self synergy beyond that as well
Would he be better at 1RW? Thats where I originally had him, but he just felt significantly worse than I wanted him to be. Would he be better with First Strike instead of Double Strike? My intention is to basically make a functional reprint of Stoneforge Mystic, without the game-breaking abusability.
Enraged goliath is dangerous but probably printable. At 6 mana, with no protection its hard to make a card too good.
This one I had to think long on. I kept sliding him around from a 5/5 for 6 CMC to an 8/8 for 8 CMC, and finally just settled for the middle ground for both. by todays standards, I dont know if he would even see play in say RG Monsters, but I think outside of todays standard he would be very powerful.
Chlorophyllic Colossus is... I'm not really sure but I like it. Its interesting and fits UG perfectly, but Drawing cards is dangerous. I'd say its probably fine but should be thoroughly tested.[/quote]
I wasnt sure where to go for the UG mythic tbh. I agree his ability can be abused, but as a big dumb creature with no protection outside of being in a blue deck, he should be balanced out compared to other creatures used in those colors.
Eater of the dead is dangerous. Its absurdly efficient and hard to remove. Do lots of testing for this guy....
While I agree he could potential get out of hand, my intent was to make a bigger, better version of ScOoze, I might just drop him down to 3 CMC and give it either the ScOoze ability or a fixed version of Pharika's ability. Which would basically just make him a strictly better Pharika, which I dont think anyone would mind.
Flameblast Daemon doesn't feel RB to me. Its fundamentally just a flametongue Kavu with a Red keyword stapled on. Of course at 3 mana, this guy is too good. At 4 mana, this guy would be a staple in standard. Once again though, This guy doesn't feel RB to me....
Hmm, what would you suggest to make him feel more RB? Maybe make the ETB trigger -4/-4? and leaving him as is? Or are you saying that if he was 4 CMC he would be fine outside of feeling overly Red?
Spellslinger Dragon is wierd. I don't get why a RU card has trample. I also think this guy is probably borderline too good. Just getting a 4/4 flash flier for 4 is incredibly efficient. That it then lets you freely cast spells makes it a little nuts. Because it has flash, you will almost always get at leasst one free spell out of this guy too, along with probably eating an opponents bear thanks to flash blocking. I'd remove flash and trample if I were you.
My intention here was to actually have a UR dragon that would actually see play, because I dont think any of the pre-existing ones were ever played outside of casual or limited. Would removing Flash and Trample for Haste be better?
Council of eons doesn't feel WB to me at all. WB is about incremental gains. WB doesn't use a ton of +1/+1 counters. I'd take this one back to the drawing board and do a total redesign.
I was going for more of a mass Token design with him, and wasnt sure how to pull that off while keeping it balanced, Maybe changing him to a Geist Honored Monk + Suture Priest + Blood Artist design would fit better.
EDIT: In summary, many cards are just too pushed and need their costs increased. Some cards, are fine. Some cards should be thoroughly tested. Two cards, Council and Daemon don't really fit the color combo and should be redone.
Thanks for your opinions and criticism. As I said these are just first drafts, and I expect several changes to be made as I progress further on the set overall.
So in making a custom Core Set featuring Multi-Colored cards as the returning mechanic, I am attempting to create a big Mythic creature for each of the 10 color pair combinations, I was looking for opinions on each of these as to whether they capture the flavor of the two colors being used, as well as whether they are simple enough for Core Set rules.
Seraph of Knowledge 3WU
Creature - Angel Wizard
Flying, Lifelink
Whenever you gain Life, you may draw a card.
You have no maximum hand size.
3/4
Baloth Pathfinder GW
Creature - Beast
Trample
Whenever Baloth Pathfinder attacks reveal the top card of your library. If that card is a land card put it into your hand.
3/3
Master Gladiator 1RW
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike
When Master Gladiator deals combat damage to an opponent, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Goliath 4RG
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it fights each creature that player controls.
6/6
Chlorophyllic Colossus 2GU
Creature - Plant Mutant
Chlorophyllic Colossus gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand. GU: Draw a card.
1/1
Eater of the Dead 2BG
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, draw a card. 1G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead. 1B, Discard a card: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
3/3
Massacre Daemon 3RB
Creature - Demon
Haste
Whenever Massacre Daemon enters the battlefield creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.
4/3
Spellslinger Dragon 3UR
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flying, Haste
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand with converted mana cost three or less without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination 2UB
Creature - Zombie Horror
Whenever Hulking Abomination enters the battlefield, target player puts the top twelve cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons 1WB
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life. WB: Put a 1/1 White and Black Spirit creature token with Flying onto the battlefield.
2/3
Seraph of Knowledge 3WU
Creature - Angel Wizard
Flying, Lifelink
Whenever you gain Life, you may draw a card.
You have no maximum hand size.
3/4
Master Gladiator RW
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike, Haste
When Master Gladiator enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Golaith 4RG
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Trample, Haste
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it deals that much damage to target creature that player controls.
7/7
Chlorophyllic Colossus 2GU
Creature - Plant Mutant
Chlorophyllic Colossus gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand. GU: Draw a card.
1/1
Eater of the Dead 1BG
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead. B: Regenerate Eater of the Dead. G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead.
3/3
Flameblast Daemon 1BR
Creature - Demon Soldier
Haste
Whenever Flameblast Daemon enters the battlefield, it deals 4 damage to target creature.
4/2
Spellslinger Dragon 2UR
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flash
Flying, Trample
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination 3UB
Creature - Zombie Horror
Intimidate
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons 4WB
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Council of Eons enters the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters on it. WB, remove a +1/+1 counter from Council of Eons: Put two 1/1 Black and White Spirit creature tokens with Flying onto the battlefield.
1/1
Hey all, thanks for your replies! As far as responses, Ill just respond to as much as i can as i read through each post, so if I overlap or repeat myself, I apologize.
First Reply, @TurboJustice
Before you replied initially, I had planned to have an equal showing of each 2-color combo at each rarity level. Initially, I had planned on 1 mythic , 2 rare, 3 Uncommon, and 5 Common, which would end up with 110 gold cards in the whole set, just under 50%. But I may tweak these somewhat since that seems a little heavy. And yes, I did plan on using "multi-color" as the returning mechanic, as well as reprints of several powerful staples from previous Core Sets and Blocks. My intent was to have the Core Set be just that, Core to deck building, with plenty of powerful staples to compliment my Blocks well enough that many different deck options are viable.
Now not all of these were going to be strictly gold, some were to be something like Kird Ape or other off-color abilities that are obviously meant for 2 color decks, but the majority was intending to be actual Gold cards.
As far as keeping the "theme" of the color pairings concise, could you extrapolate on that? I know there is a fair bit of overlap with each color, so if you could offer an example of what each color pairing is meant for, that would be great.
Second reply, @SecretInfiltrator
I agree those numbers are a bit over inflated, but multicolored isnt as complex a mechanic as some of the previously used ones, especially in the past few blocks, where multi-colored/gold cards are everywhere.
Assuming I do this, I plan on keeping multi-colored cards to the basic version, no hybrid mana symbols or any other shennanigans, if I design a Red and Green card for the set, RG will be in the casting cost, no hybrid or other weirdness.
My plans for right now, are that the block(s) that this Core Set would accompany, is going to focus on a Wedge based world, similar to the Shards from Alara, with each Wedge focusing on a specific "tribe" of inhabitants although, it will not be a Tribal Block by normal definition. So My idea was to have the Core Set feature several 2-color Gold cards to compliment several wedges at a time, so that one single Wedge doesnt get all of the goodies.
Third Reply, @TurboJustic again,
I understood what you meant as this, and already have those variety of cards planned, and I already planned on having either Farseek or a slight upgrade to Sylvan Scrying, but at 3 CMC included in the set for good mana fixing. Also, I dont plan on including Shocklands, so Farseek would be considerably worse, But I may invent a new cycle of dual lands, to make the mana base of a Wedge block easier to manage, and not slow down the format to 5-6 turns of mana fixing.
P.S. From a design standpoint, how would you guys handle Planeswalkers hailing from a Wedge-based Plane? Should I keep them mono-colored, but give them abilities based on their other colors? or make them the full wedge combo, and very specifically based on those colors?
I am beginning work ona custom Core Set for my own custom Standard Block, and I was wondering if anyone could assist me on the main differences between a Core Set, and a regular Block set. My main questions are on the following:
1. Average # of cards in the set, and the breakdowns of each rarity/color/type/etc.
2. How to determine what abilities/mechanics are to be used, like for a returning mechanic, or how to change pre-existing ones to fit a more simplified environment.
3. Rules for multicolored cards. I know a few years ago, we had Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in a core set, but was this a fluke? Or would it be alright if I add maybe 10-20 gold cards to a core set as long as its nothing too complicated?
4. Any other rules for a core set that I may need to know about Core Sets that are generally different than Block Sets.
Thanks for your input, and any suggestions are welcome, I am intending to have this Core Set be pretty powerful in comparison of previous ones.
I wouldn't mind a full 10 cycle like Nimbus Maze in a core set, might be a little too complicated for beginners, but its something different. Otherwise the usual Check/buddy lands like Sunpetal Grove is a common vote.
Maybe if they went way off base and brought back something crazy like the Eventide "filter" lands like Fetid Heath or the Odyssey filter lands like Shadowblood Ridge would be nice, Eventide ones would require hybrid mana in a core set, which might be a no-no, but it would potentially bring their prices down a bit and keep them low. The Odyssey ones might be a little underpowered, and I dont remember if they ever really saw much play even in Standard when first printed, but it would be different than the same old stuff we always get.
So what does this mean exactly? Am I guarenteed to get 1 of 3 of the listed rares for each color? Im new to preeleases and dont know what im getting into tommorow.
Moving forward, I have two idea for his slot:
1) Replace him with another agressive 2-drop. Something like either Rakdos Shredfreak, or Spiteful Returned.
-or-
2) Bump up the land count for an agressive 4 drop, like Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch or Mogis, God of Slaughter.
I am not too sure about option 2, but bigger beefier creatures could definitely be a valid option, especially Mogis, which has built in removal and/or passive damage.
First Event - 2nd Place (4-1 Overall)
Junk Midrange
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
1 Lifebane Zombie
4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Vraska the Unseen
2 Advent of the Wurm
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Banishing Light
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Godless Shrine
3 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Silence
3 Temple of Plenty
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Bile Blight
3 Duress
2 Banishing Light
2 Lifebane Zombie
3 Sin Collector
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
Round 1 vs. BUG Midrange/Control (2-1)
Opponent was playing an odd controlish shell relying on stalling the game out with Removal and counters, along with Gaze of Granite then finishing with either Kiora, the Crashing Wave or Vraska the Unseen. He took game 1 because I got land flooded and only saw 5 spells the entire game. After that, I sided out my Caryatids and Coursers for Duress, Sin Collector, and Banishing Light, and went for the long game. Ended up winning both of the next games on the back of Blood Baron and Advent of the Wurm after drawing all 6 Sin Collectors/Duress both games and putting him into top deck mode.
Round 2 vs. Blue Weenies (2-1)
Opponent is using a budget list he claims comes in at under $20 retail, using a bunch of 1-2 CMC little guys and Halls of Triumph. Game one, he has a good draw and puts out a swarm of guys along with Halls and a Bident of Thassa, and I cant draw removal to save my life. Game 2 and 3, I side in Bile Blight and Banishing Light just to have more removal, and end up winning via a massive Scavenging Ooze both times.
Round 3 vs B/r Midrange (2-0)
Opponent is using some kind of home made brew with a bunch of odd choices. I quickly 2-0 him with double Blood Barons game 1, and then Archangle/Scooze/Courser game 2. Not sure what the opponents deck was supposed to really do, I saw a total of 8 different nonland cards through both games.
Round 4 vs. Nythos Green (2-1)
Opponent is my Room mate using a deck I had just helped him finish building, and playtest against. Game 1, I have all the answers to his Big dudes, and I finish him off with a massive ScOoze. I side in my Lifebane Zombies and Banishing Lights for games 2 and 3. Game 2, he gets me down to 2 life before I stabilize with removal against his field. I get out the combo of Courser/ScOoze/Archangle/Blood Baron against him, and gain 17 life in a single turn, getting him down to 5. But I lose to his EoT monstrous Hydra Broodmother then Flash BoonSatyr bestow for exactly lethal. Worst Part, I had a Downfall in hand, but tapped out to eat his GY with my ScOoze, if i had just waited a turn, I coulda killed the Broodmother in response, and then swung back for the win. Game 3 though is a repeat of Game 1, along with him being behind after keeping a 2 land hand and not drawing the 3rd land until turn 4, by that time, I had my Lifebanes backed up with Ajani and just swung him down.
Round 5 vs. Mono-Blue Devotion (0-2)
Game one was just terrible. Was on the draw and I kept a 1-land opener that consisted of Temple of Malady, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Abrupt Decay, Banishing Light, Hero's Downfal and Ajani; but I couldnt get to a second land ever, after seeing Turn 4's draw being another non-land I just gave him the first game. Game 2 I sided in Nyx-Fleece Ram, Bile Blight, and Banishing Light and had an impressive game against him, but he overloaded a Cyclonic Rift, then dropped a Master of Waves and I couldnt answer it in time.
For the second tournament of the day, I built a super tight Aggro deck for a change of pace, and totally decimated the field. I didnt have a game go past Turn 6 until the final round, and even then I beat my opponent in under under 10 turns. Same as before, list and short Match-up review included.
B/r Aggro
4 Herald of Torment
4 Mogis's Marauder
4 Spike Jester
4 Pain Seer
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Tormented Hero
2 Doom Blade
4 Mana Confluence
4 Blood Crypt
1 Mountain
13 Swamp
4 Duress
3 Toil//Trouble
3 Slaughter Games
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Ultimate Price
1 Swamp
One minor comment on this deck aside from the fact that the only thing I ever sided in was Duress and Slaughter Games, is that Pain Seer NEVER drew me a card, and Master of the Feast ALWAYS ended the games he was cast during. The one good thing about Pain Seer though, is that he always was the first target of any removal my opponents had, so I was glad to have him die as opposed to a Master or Herald. Also, on the Master of the Feast, even against Control I never sided him out; I was able to overload the board with so much beef, that even if they drew and extra card, the best they could do, was get rid of one guy a turn and I just outswarmed them.
Round 1 G/W Aggro (2-0)
Game 1 I open with Cackler, into Spike Jester, into Master of the Feasts then turn 4 Doom Blade his Brimaz and Swing through for game the following turn. I don't bother siding anything in, and Game 2 I open with Cackler, into double Gnarled Scarhide, into Mogis's Marauder, then turn 4 Dreadbore his Nyx-Fleece Ram and creatures for the game.
Round 2 Mono-Black Devotion (2-0)
Game 1 I open with the usual Cackler/Jester/Master curve and my opponent durdles with Pack Rats which get Dreadbore'd away. Game 2 I side Doom Blades for Ultimate Price, and Pain Seer for Duress, but take the game with my opening hand of Blood Crypt, Mana Confluence, Cackler x2, Scarhide x2, Dreadbore. My opponent opens with a Thoughtsieze taking the Dreadbore, then I open with my army of 1-drops. He resolves a pair of Pack Rats, but I top deck 2 removal spells in a row and he cant answer the beef.
Round 3 Black/Green Dredge (2-0)
This game goes almost exactly as the previous round, but he atleast manages to slow me down a little bit with Abrupt Decay and Bile Blights, but he cant find a threat and I land double Master of the Feasts on turns 5 and 6 which he cant answer. Game 2 I swap Doom Blade for Ultimate Price and end up taking him in 5 turns from a god hand. He cant answer any of my creatures either due to wrong removal or not having expected aggro, the only things I see from him in game 2 is a pair of Grisly Salvages, and 3 Satyr Wayfinders the latter of the which were met with my own removal spells.
Round 4 Esper Control (2-0)
Final round I am matched with my friend who is also undefeated at this point. Game 1 I curve out perfectly, while he gets stuck on a single white mana for a few turns, then cant find a verdict to stop me hard. After the longest game yet, 10 turns and a lot of Azorious Charms and Hero's Downfalls from his side, I finally get through with Master of the Feast to finish him. I side in the Duress and Slaughter Games inplace of the Pain Seers and Doom Blades for Game 2, and my opener has a Duress, 2 Cacklers, 1 Scarhide, a Slaughter Games and 2 lands. This is the final game of the match.
Turn 1 - Me: Blood Crypt, Duress him. He reveals a Verdict, D Sphere, Blood Baron and 4 lands. I call the Sphere to protect my 2 Cacklers for later.
Turn 1 - Him: U/W Scryland, bottoms the card and pass.
Turn 2 - Me: Draw a Spike Jester. Mana Confluence, Double Cacklers Unleashed.
Turn 2 - Him: He another U/W scryland, bottoms it and passes.
Turn 3 - Me: Draw another Duress. Duress him. Reveals 2x Downfalls and the BBV and Verdict from earlier. I take the Verdict then play Jester and swing for 7.
Turn 3 - Him: U/W Shock tapped, then passes.
Turn 4 - Me: Draw a Swamp. Swing with team, he Charms my Jester to the top but takes the rest. Play the swamp and my other 1-drop in hand. Then pass.
Turn 4 - Him: He plays ANOTHER U/W Scryland and bottoms what he sees, then passes.
Turn 5 - Me: Draw the Spike Jester, play it, then Swing. He Celestial Flares, i sac a Cackler and he takes another 7.
Turn 5 - Him: He plays a Mutavault then passes.
Turn 6 - Me: I Top deck a Swamp, and Swing with my team. He animates the Mutavault and blocks the Spike Jester, Takes 4 down to 2 life remaining. I play the Swamp and Slaughter Games for Blood Baron.
Turn 6 - Him: He draws his card and scoops.
Now, I know if my opponent wouldnt have been color screwed both games I probably would have had more trouble, but I have to admit this deck did some nice things. I was very impressed with it in every match up, and didnt have to worry about anything my opponents did, I just kept turning my dudes sideways and went undefeated for a sweet Xenagod playmat.
1) Since the "exile stuff, then play it" style clauses are spread across almost every color except green, I would consider making this guy/girl 3 colors, either Esper UWB or America RWU preferrably.
2) For an effect this potentially strong, I would have this Planeswalker closer to Elspeth, Sun's Champion level of power and CMC, it feels like this is something you use to finish a game via sheer card advantage, and not something to durdle behind for a few turns, then use an ult for some card advantage. It should have a giant "KILL ME NOW OR LOSE!!" sign on it from the moment you cast it.
As reference to my points, I will provide an example or two using my opinions.
Makeshift, the Omen Scrawl 3UWB
Planeswalker - Makeshift
+1: Exile the top three cards of target players library, you may put any of them back in any order.
-4: Exile all creatures target player controls. Return them to the battlefield at the end of turn.
-7: You get an Emblem with, "You may play cards exiled by ~ as though they were in your hand."
[5]
Makeshift, the Omen Scrawl 3RWU
Planeswalker - Makeshift
+1: Exile target permanent, then return it to the battlefield and gain control of it. It gains Haste. At the end of turn its owner gains control of it.
0: Exile the top card of your library. You may play it until end of turn.
-3: Return target exiled card you own to your hand.
-7: You get an Emblem with, "You may play cards exiled by ~ as though they were in your hand."
Planeswalker - Nissa
+1: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, add an amount of green mana to your mana pool equal to its converted mana cost.
+1: Put a 2/3 Green Elf Warrior creature token onto the battlefield.
-X: Reveal the top X cards of your library. You may put any number of permanent cards with converted mana cost X or less from among them onto the battlefield. Then put all cards revealed this way that weren't put onto the battlefield into your graveyard.
[2]
My opinion on a Nissa 2.0.
First +1 is very synergistic with all the scry in Theros, as well as Synergy with Domri and Courser.
Second +1 is an homage to Nissa's Chosen from the original printing.
Ultimate is basically copy/paste of Genesis Wave, which could technically be used right away, but youd get little more than 1-2 lands and maybe a mana dork.
Yeah I was going for a balanced marriage of Drogskol Reaver and Archangle of Thune, which I think this pulls off rather well.
I was going for something more akin to Goblin Guide but as a beneficial effect instead of potentially helping the opponent, I agree he had non-synergy with Courser, but he is meant more of a replacement/alternative to him for this Standard.
I have several equipment included in this Core Set to go along with him, as well as a few throughout the Blocks I plan to create around it. I was going to something akin to Stoneforge Mystic, but less abuseable, along with using the "Double Strike and put stuff into play" mechanic on stuff like Warren Instigator and Prophetic Flamespeaker.
I tested him with Trample in just a generic RG Monsters shell by todays standards, and he was an absolute bomb every game he was played. Every time he connected, he wiped the enemy field and I won next turn. Giving him trample imo is too much, I might have to redesign him, but this is the best way I could balance him initially.
I had debated making the activated cost 1UG but I wasnt sure if that was as good, since Niv-Mizzet draws off of two mana, I could probably make that change easily enough.
Agree he seems like the biggest bomb of the whole group. I again already though of changing the cost of his abilities, which I might do for balance's sake.
Was intending him to be more of an aggressive remake of Massacre Wurm, but I agree the Doomwake similarity is there.
Yeah the wording on that is odd, I may change it to a reveal clause, I never even thought about the wording. Originally I had him as a 4 CMC 4/4 but that along with the free spell trigger seemed a little too pushed, and I dont know of any other Rare or higher Dragons under 4/4.
I am probably going to change him to a symetrical Mill during upkeep effect like Splinterfright, maybe 3 per player. Another idea was "mills equal to cards in GY" or "for each creature, sac unless they mill 3" but im not sure what im going to do with him yet.
Yeah he is a little powerful as of right now, I may change the token dump to cost more, as well as have an extra cost of either discard or Pay life. Either way, I definitely see him in a deck like Modern Soul Sisters, assuming thats a thing still.
I agree Version 1 and 3 seemed the most powerful, and would almost invalidate even the ABUR duals, I was just throwing the ideas i initially though of out there.
I did like the "Checkland" clause version as well, but it just seems a little weird and unwieldy, especially with Fetchlands being present, they may as well enter untapped anyways.
I agree version 4 seems the safest of those I posted, but it seems weaker than the vanilla Shard Tri-Lands from Alara.
Now, a real question for a Wedge block, outside of printing Wedge equivalents of Alara's Shardlands, and possibly even the Vivid Cycle again, is there any way to not just inherently hose any wedges dont include Green, short of every deck being 4 Color Goodstuff? Or maybe just do a rip-off mana base of Alara with allied Fetches as back-up.
My intention if I can figure out a way to do it, is to create a cycle of lands similar to this, for each wedge, but I have one problem, my block isnt Tribal focus, so the "reveal an X creature type" clause is completely irrelevant. Can anyong suggest an alternative that would be balanced enough so that a potential Tri-Land that come in untapped doesnt completely upset the market and sky-rockets to $300 due to Eternal formats?
Also, as a small bit of context as to this decision, in my custom Core Set, the full cycle of Fetchlands are reprinted which means these will be searchable with them.
Initial ideas
1) "Shock clause" combined with Grove of the Burnwillows styled life gain on the Wedge colors
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped unless you pay 2 life.
T: Add G or W to your mana pool, target opponent gains 1 life.
2) "Check clause" replacing Tribal requirement
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Forest or Plains.
T: Add G or W to your mana pool.
3) Drop it all together and leave the land as is.
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
T, Pay 1 life: Add G or W to your mana pool.
4) Dont let them ever ETB untapped.
Example
Junk Wedge Tri-Land
Land - Swamp
(T: Add B to your mana pool.)
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Pay 1 life: Add G or W to your mana pool.
Seraph of Knowledge - Unchanged
Predator Baloth - Renamed to Baloth Pathfinder, and given new abilities
Creature - Beast
Trample
Whenever Baloth Pathfinder attacks reveal the top card of your library. If that card is a land card put it into your hand.
3/3
Master Gladiator - Changed mana cost and reworked abilities
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike
When Master Gladiator deals combat damage to an opponent, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Golaith - Changed P/T and abilities
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it fights each creature that player controls.
6/6
Chlorophyllic Colossus - Unchanged
Eater of the Dead - Complete Rework
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, draw a card.
1G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead.
1B, Discard a card: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
3/3
Massacre Daemon - Complete rework
Creature - Demon
Haste
Whenever Massacre Daemon enters the battlefield creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.
4/3
Spellslinger Dragon - Slight rework on abilities and mana cost.
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flying, Haste
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand with converted mana cost three or less without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination - Reworked, but functionally the same
Creature - Zombie Horror
Whenever Hulking Abomination enters the battlefield, target player puts the top twelve cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons - Total rework
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
WB: Put a 1/1 White and Black Spirit creature token with Flying onto the battlefield.
2/3
Fine as in printable, or fine as in playable? Im trying to have most of these Mythics be a serious contender for this Custom standards' decks. Preferably with at least half of them being staples in the decks that will exist once the full block is finished.
Is it the combination of abilities? or something else? I considered Flash over Lifelink, but figured Id go with Lifelink since its common in both colors.
Would he be better at 1RW? Thats where I originally had him, but he just felt significantly worse than I wanted him to be. Would he be better with First Strike instead of Double Strike? My intention is to basically make a functional reprint of Stoneforge Mystic, without the game-breaking abusability.
This one I had to think long on. I kept sliding him around from a 5/5 for 6 CMC to an 8/8 for 8 CMC, and finally just settled for the middle ground for both. by todays standards, I dont know if he would even see play in say RG Monsters, but I think outside of todays standard he would be very powerful.
Chlorophyllic Colossus is... I'm not really sure but I like it. Its interesting and fits UG perfectly, but Drawing cards is dangerous. I'd say its probably fine but should be thoroughly tested.[/quote]
I wasnt sure where to go for the UG mythic tbh. I agree his ability can be abused, but as a big dumb creature with no protection outside of being in a blue deck, he should be balanced out compared to other creatures used in those colors.
While I agree he could potential get out of hand, my intent was to make a bigger, better version of ScOoze, I might just drop him down to 3 CMC and give it either the ScOoze ability or a fixed version of Pharika's ability. Which would basically just make him a strictly better Pharika, which I dont think anyone would mind.
Hmm, what would you suggest to make him feel more RB? Maybe make the ETB trigger -4/-4? and leaving him as is? Or are you saying that if he was 4 CMC he would be fine outside of feeling overly Red?
My intention here was to actually have a UR dragon that would actually see play, because I dont think any of the pre-existing ones were ever played outside of casual or limited. Would removing Flash and Trample for Haste be better?
I might end up dropping him to 4 CMC for balance's sake, I completely forgot about Mortivore when designing him.
I was going for more of a mass Token design with him, and wasnt sure how to pull that off while keeping it balanced, Maybe changing him to a Geist Honored Monk + Suture Priest + Blood Artist design would fit better.
Thanks for your opinions and criticism. As I said these are just first drafts, and I expect several changes to be made as I progress further on the set overall.
Creature - Angel Wizard
Flying, Lifelink
Whenever you gain Life, you may draw a card.
You have no maximum hand size.
3/4
Baloth Pathfinder GW
Creature - Beast
Trample
Whenever Baloth Pathfinder attacks reveal the top card of your library. If that card is a land card put it into your hand.
3/3
Master Gladiator 1RW
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike
When Master Gladiator deals combat damage to an opponent, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Goliath 4RG
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it fights each creature that player controls.
6/6
Chlorophyllic Colossus 2GU
Creature - Plant Mutant
Chlorophyllic Colossus gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand.
GU: Draw a card.
1/1
Eater of the Dead 2BG
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, draw a card.
1G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead.
1B, Discard a card: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
3/3
Massacre Daemon 3RB
Creature - Demon
Haste
Whenever Massacre Daemon enters the battlefield creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.
4/3
Spellslinger Dragon 3UR
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flying, Haste
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand with converted mana cost three or less without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination 2UB
Creature - Zombie Horror
Whenever Hulking Abomination enters the battlefield, target player puts the top twelve cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons 1WB
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
Whenever Council of Eons or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
WB: Put a 1/1 White and Black Spirit creature token with Flying onto the battlefield.
2/3
Creature - Angel Wizard
Flying, Lifelink
Whenever you gain Life, you may draw a card.
You have no maximum hand size.
3/4
Predator Baloth GW
Creature - Beast
Hexproof, Trample, Lifelink
3/3
Master Gladiator RW
Creature - Human Soldier
Double Strike, Haste
When Master Gladiator enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
1/2
Enraged Golaith 4RG
Creature - Giant Barbarian
Trample, Haste
Whenever Enraged Goliath deals combat damage to a player, it deals that much damage to target creature that player controls.
7/7
Chlorophyllic Colossus 2GU
Creature - Plant Mutant
Chlorophyllic Colossus gets +1/+1 for each card in your hand.
GU: Draw a card.
1/1
Eater of the Dead 1BG
Creature - Zombie Beast
Whenever another creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead.
B: Regenerate Eater of the Dead.
G: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Eater of the Dead.
3/3
Flameblast Daemon 1BR
Creature - Demon Soldier
Haste
Whenever Flameblast Daemon enters the battlefield, it deals 4 damage to target creature.
4/2
Spellslinger Dragon 2UR
Creature - Dragon Wizard
Flash
Flying, Trample
Whenever Spellslinger Dragon deals combat damage to an opponent, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your hand without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Hulking Abomination 3UB
Creature - Zombie Horror
Intimidate
Hulking Abomination’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Council of Eons 4WB
Creature - Spirit Cleric
Council of Eons enters the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters on it.
WB, remove a +1/+1 counter from Council of Eons: Put two 1/1 Black and White Spirit creature tokens with Flying onto the battlefield.
1/1
First Reply, @TurboJustice
Before you replied initially, I had planned to have an equal showing of each 2-color combo at each rarity level. Initially, I had planned on 1 mythic , 2 rare, 3 Uncommon, and 5 Common, which would end up with 110 gold cards in the whole set, just under 50%. But I may tweak these somewhat since that seems a little heavy. And yes, I did plan on using "multi-color" as the returning mechanic, as well as reprints of several powerful staples from previous Core Sets and Blocks. My intent was to have the Core Set be just that, Core to deck building, with plenty of powerful staples to compliment my Blocks well enough that many different deck options are viable.
Now not all of these were going to be strictly gold, some were to be something like Kird Ape or other off-color abilities that are obviously meant for 2 color decks, but the majority was intending to be actual Gold cards.
As far as keeping the "theme" of the color pairings concise, could you extrapolate on that? I know there is a fair bit of overlap with each color, so if you could offer an example of what each color pairing is meant for, that would be great.
Second reply, @SecretInfiltrator
I agree those numbers are a bit over inflated, but multicolored isnt as complex a mechanic as some of the previously used ones, especially in the past few blocks, where multi-colored/gold cards are everywhere.
Assuming I do this, I plan on keeping multi-colored cards to the basic version, no hybrid mana symbols or any other shennanigans, if I design a Red and Green card for the set, RG will be in the casting cost, no hybrid or other weirdness.
My plans for right now, are that the block(s) that this Core Set would accompany, is going to focus on a Wedge based world, similar to the Shards from Alara, with each Wedge focusing on a specific "tribe" of inhabitants although, it will not be a Tribal Block by normal definition. So My idea was to have the Core Set feature several 2-color Gold cards to compliment several wedges at a time, so that one single Wedge doesnt get all of the goodies.
Third Reply, @TurboJustic again,
I understood what you meant as this, and already have those variety of cards planned, and I already planned on having either Farseek or a slight upgrade to Sylvan Scrying, but at 3 CMC included in the set for good mana fixing. Also, I dont plan on including Shocklands, so Farseek would be considerably worse, But I may invent a new cycle of dual lands, to make the mana base of a Wedge block easier to manage, and not slow down the format to 5-6 turns of mana fixing.
P.S. From a design standpoint, how would you guys handle Planeswalkers hailing from a Wedge-based Plane? Should I keep them mono-colored, but give them abilities based on their other colors? or make them the full wedge combo, and very specifically based on those colors?
1. Average # of cards in the set, and the breakdowns of each rarity/color/type/etc.
2. How to determine what abilities/mechanics are to be used, like for a returning mechanic, or how to change pre-existing ones to fit a more simplified environment.
3. Rules for multicolored cards. I know a few years ago, we had Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in a core set, but was this a fluke? Or would it be alright if I add maybe 10-20 gold cards to a core set as long as its nothing too complicated?
4. Any other rules for a core set that I may need to know about Core Sets that are generally different than Block Sets.
Thanks for your input, and any suggestions are welcome, I am intending to have this Core Set be pretty powerful in comparison of previous ones.
Maybe if they went way off base and brought back something crazy like the Eventide "filter" lands like Fetid Heath or the Odyssey filter lands like Shadowblood Ridge would be nice, Eventide ones would require hybrid mana in a core set, which might be a no-no, but it would potentially bring their prices down a bit and keep them low. The Odyssey ones might be a little underpowered, and I dont remember if they ever really saw much play even in Standard when first printed, but it would be different than the same old stuff we always get.