I'm really curious how you'd represent the X if you went the Fusion route. There's plenty of Evil Twin variants for X Samus, but the species themself... Slivers are close but not quite right.
The new Eldrazi stuff would be pretty good for Metroids, though. Or say that the originals are Metroids and the new stuff are Super's Mochtroids.
Sacrificial Lamb W
Creature -- Sheep (R)
~ must be blocked if able.
When ~ dies, exile target creature your opponent controls that dealt damage to it this turn. Put a number of time counters on the exiled card equal to the amount of damage it dealt to ~ this turn. If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend. Exile ~.
0/2 Mary had a little lamb. She was so preoccupied with eating that she quite missed the battle.
Prepare a Feast
Sorcery -- Rare
As an additional cost to cast ~, tap any number of untapped red and/or green creatures you control.
For each green creature tapped to pay for ~, distribute 2 +1/+1 counters amongst creatures you control.
For each red creature tapped to pay for ~, create 2 1/1 Elemental creature tokens. They have haste and "at the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature".
A fire is an opportunity for companionship with others, as well as self-reflection and new growth. Plus, it's warm and pretty.
Hey, a new card for my The Great Aurora / Notion Thief deck! Instead of having to exile Thief with Suspension Field after boosting its toughness (or using eg Mannichi, the Fevered Dream), I can just use this card alone -- more expensive, but makes it a 3-card combo rather than 4! Thanks, Wizards! I'm sure you designed this with my deck in mind...
Maybe the ability given by Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, could be flavored as a sort of "Kill me quickly / with overwhelming force, or I'll just grow back and you'll have to try again"? Unlike persist/undying/regen/indestructible/etc., that's actually clearly part of blue's color pie, and it's not necessarily too overpowered to boot.
The bigger issue might be the impact on the set as a whole: 1) It's not a particularly compelling ability, since you can't really build around it; 2) You'd probably want to include more incidental abilities that target that you can combine with others to kill the trolls (more Forge Devil and Cinder Pyromancer), plus things like Diabolic Edict, and 3) Even then, giving a whole subset of the set an ability that invalidates lots of traditional removal might be dangerous.
In general, though, frankly I'm concerned about your very premise. Looking for a regen-type ability seems to lean towards defensive abilities, and if you're not careful then that seems like it implies 1 and 3 no matter what the specifics of the mechanic are.
Also, in general you're looking for a creature mechanic in blue, which is tricky. Maybe levelup? That's primarily blue, and you could stretch it as the idea of trolls getting tougher as they age. Or maybe a level-up variant that removes counters when they take damage? It'd be hard to make sure it's not frustrating to play against.
Best thing you can do on a budget is play lots of ramp and card-draw. It's basic stuff that a lot of EDH players leave out, but it makes or breaks the quality of a deck. Particularly if you don't have as many "hard-hitting" cards -- your average card quality is lower than others at the table -- you need to make up for it with solid deck construction. Because no matter how awesome the cards your opponents have are, you'll be ahead of them if they miss their land drops and you curve out with a land every turn and 1-3 ramp spells in the first few turns.
That's particularly relevant for Muldrotha, because 1) you'll need a ton of mana to cast your commander in the first place, much less if it gets killed, and 2) once you have your commander, you shouldn't lack for things to do on your turn since you're casting from the graveyard. Sakura-Tribe Elder is probably the gold standard as cheap ramp that can be recurred or act as a creature, but since you're playing on a serious budget than even stuff like Burnished Hart, Dawntreader Elk, etc. can be useful.
Remember that, *if* you have your commander and lots of your library is permanents, then self-milling is sort of like drawing cards. At the same time, milling without your commander is worthless (unless you have a ton of other synergistic cards in your deck). With this in mind, find sources of mill that also do other useful things: Sidisi, Brood Tyrant might be expensive, but even commons/uncommons like Nyx Weaver, Golgari Thug, Satyr Wayfinder, etc. are pretty good for a basic deck, but I would avoid things like Homarid Explorer that don't do much of anything on their own without a way to recur them. Above all, snag a copy of Mulldrifter -- that might be one of your best cards in this deck.
Basically, fill the deck out to start with a solid skeleton of land, ramp, and mildly synergistic self-mill cards, plus a few of whatever "bombs" you own or are interested in playing with (you mentioned Woodfall Primus, the new Lazav, maybe Laboratory Maniac; frankly, there's no lack for effective bombs in these colors, whether they be self-mill things like Golgari Grave-Troll, powerful synergy game-enders like Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, random fatties like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger... yeah, pretty much every GB rare in the past few years). Then slowly get new cards over the years as you see fit, switching cards out on a role-by-role basis.
...in short, it's possible to go infinite, but it's pretty difficult apart from Sliver Queen. Now, it's almost certainly easier with the help of other non-sliver cards, but that's a different issue entirely.
In all likelihood, you'll draw any particular card maybe twice at most. You'd need a ton of support in both Limited and Constructed: the former would require an absolutely huge amount of self-mill, library-searching, etc. in order to make it remotely feasible to play these cards as a deck archetype; and the latter seems just a litle bit impossible considering that there's 4 cards out of 60 in a deck, and there's so much consistency in Constructed otherwise.
Of course, you could just design the cards to be perfectly fine if you draw just one of them, great if you draw 2, and don't really expect to draw 3 of them somehow. And actually, I think you've done a great job with that:
-comparing Countershot to Force Spike, as well as Flusterstorm, Stubborn Denial, and Spell Pierce, suggests it's pretty well-balanced;
-Think Fast might be a little powerful (compare Accumulated Knowledge, and considering that Ponder and Preordain are banned in Modern; I'd probably make it a sorcery, to keep the attractive cost and bring it close to the power level of those cards), but it might be fine in a contained, casual format (not sure your plans for the set).
-Fireshot might be a little weak, but then again might also be too strong. Compare Forked Bolt, Geistflame, and Lightning Bolt/Shock/Lightning Strike/Open Fire -- the power level of direct damage seems to fluctuate a lot depending on the format. Given the lack of things to change without significantly affecting the card, I think it's pretty safe as it stands.
-Scattershot is weird to me just because it's unlikely in most formats (besides, say, Commander, where Rapid Fire doesn't work anyway) that you'll have so many artifacts to deal with that you'll want to play 4 of a card that deals with them. It's just not an effect that seems super desirable to see more than once or twice a game, so putting Rapid Fire on it is just weird to me. It'd be like putting Mentor on a 1/1, Evolve on a 10/10, or Affinity for artifacts on a creature that mostly costs colored mana.
All in all, besides Scattershot, these all seem like really great designs in that vein -- "good once, great twice, don't expect anything more than that". I just wonder if that's an exciting enough theme to build a whole mechanic around -- it seems very feels-bad for the Johnnies who want to brew around a cool mechanic, it's not at all impressive for the Timmies, it's kinda-ish flavor justified -- pretty much only serious optimizing Spikes want to play this mechanic, and even then the randomness might be a turn-off.
Regardless, cool idea for a mechanic. And whether you use this mechanic or not, I think Trigger-Happy Spellslinger is one of the coolest designs I've seen in ages here -- it's perfectly costed for its abilities, has cool types and name, and it's a unique, balanced ability that can be good on its own but can also be built around pretty interestingly, and it's new. I love it!
Flying may be secondary in black, but it's definitely not used in green -- meaning it's probably wrong to put this in Golgari. It'd work great in Orzhov colors, though, probably even better than in mono-black, given that that'd reinforce both flying and lifelink.
But yeah, this is hilariously broken. 2 life is not a real cost, or not enough to justify being able to drop one of these suckers turn 2. And as others have said, BG (or BW, etc.) is possibly easier to hit than BB.
Compare Gifted Aetherborn. Flying is a ridiculous upgrade on this card, and (again) 2 life is not enough of a setback. And, frankly, I was already a bit surprised to see Aetherborn printed.
Fateseal has been tested and proven to be incredibly unfun, according to WotC
I think the popularity of Lantern Mill in Modern should also demonstrate something of the unfun-ness of Fateseal.
Personally, I don't necessarily think the name is a strike against it, given that most people probably don't even know the word 'scry' outside of Magic anyway; however, the graveyard synergy is pretty problematic.
I honestly don't get the hate on this card. It's a four-mana exile removal spell, that can also block or be a Lightning Bolt. It's not stellar, but how on earth is that bad? Not every card can be Siege Rhino, but it honestly seems outright silly to me to call it an outright terrible card.
And as for applications to EDH, this seems to me to be one of the most interesting generals to build around (bounce/vanishing/etc. shenanigans, an excellent card to play with Yuriko or other Ninjas, Assassin or unblockables theme, giving them creatures to exile) and it combines board control in an interesting political way with an alt win-con that can actually happen in the land of commander damage. I think it's a good balance of 'able to do things' and 'not a broken combo commander'.
1) xStormaggedonx 0-6 As far as I can tell, I can't stop you from sticking Winter Orb, which sans Root Maze limits me to 2 mana a turn -- not enough to pass back the potato.
2) Convoy_Avenger 3-3
OTP I Chant on your T1, which keeps you off your mana for just long enough to land and use Scepter infinite turns. OTD, I think I can get close (it's a pretty highly branching path), but I think you can force me to end with the potato by my 5th turn (with Haze), so I lose the next turn.
3) Suberbajt 3-3
OTP, I pretty handily outrace you -- Scepter T2, Chant+use Scepter T3, from here you can take 2 more turns (not enough to get you to 7 mana, even with Lake and the bonus 1 mana from Drain) and then can't stop me from winning either by Helix or potato. OTD, I wait to T3 to Chant+Scepter (you pass the potato), then try to use it on T4, get countered, you drop Angel, T5 get countered and each pass the potato, T6 we each try to pass each other the potato and I'm the one left with it.
4) ManyCookies 6-0
You don't have any way to stop me from getting Scepter on the field and can only counter its activation once; even if I lose Helix I can still just pass the potato, get infinite lands, and wait for your 7th upkeep.
5) Mother Mamba 0-6
Phyrexian Revoker single-handedly shuts down my combo, and KCommand seals the deal.
6) Danxor3 6-0 I'm way faster
7) NTheo 6-0
OTP, I definitely go infinite and play Helix protected by Chant. OTD, I'm moderately sure there's no way for you to stop me getting infinite lands by your T4 (dodging Disaster barely and giving potato to you) and then Helix + Chant.
| 0 2 2 6 0 6 6 X | 22 |
Tricky matchups to score! Still not totally certain on NTheo and ConvoyAvenger, at least.
2) Superbajt 6-0 I'm faster
3) Convoy_Avenger 3-3 It does not beat lab man on the play
4) ManyCookies 0-6 a Force to be reckoned with
5) Danxor3 0-6 another Force to be reckoned with
6) Ntheo 3-3 Turns out lab man just needs a therapy session to be made useless
7) Anachronity 3-3 uninteractive T1 wins
8) Feyd_Ruin 0-6 yet more Force to be reckoned with
9) Mother Mamba 3-3 T1 Inquiry vs T1 Labman
1) Mother Mamba 6-0 Defiance to get rid of Bolt and Chandra, combo
2) Anachronity 3-3 Agreed
3) ManyCookies 3-3 Agreed
4) Danxor3 2-2 Defiance gets rid of your top end, but Keeper stalls out against Celebrant combo.
5) NTheo 2-2 If you play Refugee, I Defiance to cut off the rest of your hand and Refugee vs twinned Celebrant stalls out. If you don't play Refugee, I wait to cast Defiance with 2 modes targetting you to get around Shunt and then win, so the tie is what you play for.
6) Sizel :: 2-2 Defiance only targets you, not both of us. That being said, I agree that T4 Defiance to kill your morph and discard your hand is the best play, and Keeper alone is enough to stop Celebrant combo
7) xStormaggedonx 6-0 See, this was more the sort of deck I was hoping to play against. I combo and win
9) Convoy_Avenger 4-1 Celebrant combo stalls out against Refugee on the draw, but on the play I Defiance you and win.
| 6 2 2 2 2 2 6 X 4 | 26 |
See, I had been hoping to beat *other* Twin-style decks as well as big-threat decks like Storm's. I did not think of Protection from Red. Oops. Defiance is really good and I should've just relied on that to win and done the slower but wider and safer combo with Zealous Conscripts, but hey, hindsight's 20/20.
Presumably he's using the second ability on both of the cards. it doesn't go infinite since Magosi enters tapped, but he does get 2 turns for everyone else's turns, assuming he can keep sacrificing artifacts. It's not broken -- arguably better than, say, Opposition or Time Warp -- but still really annoying.
The new Eldrazi stuff would be pretty good for Metroids, though. Or say that the originals are Metroids and the new stuff are Super's Mochtroids.
Creature -- Sheep (R)
~ must be blocked if able.
When ~ dies, exile target creature your opponent controls that dealt damage to it this turn. Put a number of time counters on the exiled card equal to the amount of damage it dealt to ~ this turn. If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend. Exile ~.
0/2
Mary had a little lamb. She was so preoccupied with eating that she quite missed the battle.
Sorcery -- Rare
As an additional cost to cast ~, tap any number of untapped red and/or green creatures you control.
For each green creature tapped to pay for ~, distribute 2 +1/+1 counters amongst creatures you control.
For each red creature tapped to pay for ~, create 2 1/1 Elemental creature tokens. They have haste and "at the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature".
A fire is an opportunity for companionship with others, as well as self-reflection and new growth. Plus, it's warm and pretty.
The bigger issue might be the impact on the set as a whole: 1) It's not a particularly compelling ability, since you can't really build around it; 2) You'd probably want to include more incidental abilities that target that you can combine with others to kill the trolls (more Forge Devil and Cinder Pyromancer), plus things like Diabolic Edict, and 3) Even then, giving a whole subset of the set an ability that invalidates lots of traditional removal might be dangerous.
In general, though, frankly I'm concerned about your very premise. Looking for a regen-type ability seems to lean towards defensive abilities, and if you're not careful then that seems like it implies 1 and 3 no matter what the specifics of the mechanic are.
Also, in general you're looking for a creature mechanic in blue, which is tricky. Maybe level up? That's primarily blue, and you could stretch it as the idea of trolls getting tougher as they age. Or maybe a level-up variant that removes counters when they take damage? It'd be hard to make sure it's not frustrating to play against.
That's particularly relevant for Muldrotha, because 1) you'll need a ton of mana to cast your commander in the first place, much less if it gets killed, and 2) once you have your commander, you shouldn't lack for things to do on your turn since you're casting from the graveyard. Sakura-Tribe Elder is probably the gold standard as cheap ramp that can be recurred or act as a creature, but since you're playing on a serious budget than even stuff like Burnished Hart, Dawntreader Elk, etc. can be useful.
Remember that, *if* you have your commander and lots of your library is permanents, then self-milling is sort of like drawing cards. At the same time, milling without your commander is worthless (unless you have a ton of other synergistic cards in your deck). With this in mind, find sources of mill that also do other useful things: Sidisi, Brood Tyrant might be expensive, but even commons/uncommons like Nyx Weaver, Golgari Thug, Satyr Wayfinder, etc. are pretty good for a basic deck, but I would avoid things like Homarid Explorer that don't do much of anything on their own without a way to recur them. Above all, snag a copy of Mulldrifter -- that might be one of your best cards in this deck.
Basically, fill the deck out to start with a solid skeleton of land, ramp, and mildly synergistic self-mill cards, plus a few of whatever "bombs" you own or are interested in playing with (you mentioned Woodfall Primus, the new Lazav, maybe Laboratory Maniac; frankly, there's no lack for effective bombs in these colors, whether they be self-mill things like Golgari Grave-Troll, powerful synergy game-enders like Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, random fatties like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger... yeah, pretty much every GB rare in the past few years). Then slowly get new cards over the years as you see fit, switching cards out on a role-by-role basis.
...in short, it's possible to go infinite, but it's pretty difficult apart from Sliver Queen. Now, it's almost certainly easier with the help of other non-sliver cards, but that's a different issue entirely.
Of course, you could just design the cards to be perfectly fine if you draw just one of them, great if you draw 2, and don't really expect to draw 3 of them somehow. And actually, I think you've done a great job with that:
-comparing Countershot to Force Spike, as well as Flusterstorm, Stubborn Denial, and Spell Pierce, suggests it's pretty well-balanced;
-Think Fast might be a little powerful (compare Accumulated Knowledge, and considering that Ponder and Preordain are banned in Modern; I'd probably make it a sorcery, to keep the attractive cost and bring it close to the power level of those cards), but it might be fine in a contained, casual format (not sure your plans for the set).
-Fireshot might be a little weak, but then again might also be too strong. Compare Forked Bolt, Geistflame, and Lightning Bolt/Shock/Lightning Strike/Open Fire -- the power level of direct damage seems to fluctuate a lot depending on the format. Given the lack of things to change without significantly affecting the card, I think it's pretty safe as it stands.
-Scattershot is weird to me just because it's unlikely in most formats (besides, say, Commander, where Rapid Fire doesn't work anyway) that you'll have so many artifacts to deal with that you'll want to play 4 of a card that deals with them. It's just not an effect that seems super desirable to see more than once or twice a game, so putting Rapid Fire on it is just weird to me. It'd be like putting Mentor on a 1/1, Evolve on a 10/10, or Affinity for artifacts on a creature that mostly costs colored mana.
All in all, besides Scattershot, these all seem like really great designs in that vein -- "good once, great twice, don't expect anything more than that". I just wonder if that's an exciting enough theme to build a whole mechanic around -- it seems very feels-bad for the Johnnies who want to brew around a cool mechanic, it's not at all impressive for the Timmies, it's kinda-ish flavor justified -- pretty much only serious optimizing Spikes want to play this mechanic, and even then the randomness might be a turn-off.
Regardless, cool idea for a mechanic. And whether you use this mechanic or not, I think Trigger-Happy Spellslinger is one of the coolest designs I've seen in ages here -- it's perfectly costed for its abilities, has cool types and name, and it's a unique, balanced ability that can be good on its own but can also be built around pretty interestingly, and it's new. I love it!
But yeah, this is hilariously broken. 2 life is not a real cost, or not enough to justify being able to drop one of these suckers turn 2. And as others have said, BG (or BW, etc.) is possibly easier to hit than BB.
Compare Gifted Aetherborn. Flying is a ridiculous upgrade on this card, and (again) 2 life is not enough of a setback. And, frankly, I was already a bit surprised to see Aetherborn printed.
I think the popularity of Lantern Mill in Modern should also demonstrate something of the unfun-ness of Fateseal.
Personally, I don't necessarily think the name is a strike against it, given that most people probably don't even know the word 'scry' outside of Magic anyway; however, the graveyard synergy is pretty problematic.
And as for applications to EDH, this seems to me to be one of the most interesting generals to build around (bounce/vanishing/etc. shenanigans, an excellent card to play with Yuriko or other Ninjas, Assassin or unblockables theme, giving them creatures to exile) and it combines board control in an interesting political way with an alt win-con that can actually happen in the land of commander damage. I think it's a good balance of 'able to do things' and 'not a broken combo commander'.
2) Convoy_Avenger 3-3
OTP I Chant on your T1, which keeps you off your mana for just long enough to land and use Scepter infinite turns. OTD, I think I can get close (it's a pretty highly branching path), but I think you can force me to end with the potato by my 5th turn (with Haze), so I lose the next turn.
3) Suberbajt 3-3
OTP, I pretty handily outrace you -- Scepter T2, Chant+use Scepter T3, from here you can take 2 more turns (not enough to get you to 7 mana, even with Lake and the bonus 1 mana from Drain) and then can't stop me from winning either by Helix or potato. OTD, I wait to T3 to Chant+Scepter (you pass the potato), then try to use it on T4, get countered, you drop Angel, T5 get countered and each pass the potato, T6 we each try to pass each other the potato and I'm the one left with it.
4) ManyCookies 6-0
You don't have any way to stop me from getting Scepter on the field and can only counter its activation once; even if I lose Helix I can still just pass the potato, get infinite lands, and wait for your 7th upkeep.
5) Mother Mamba 0-6
Phyrexian Revoker single-handedly shuts down my combo, and KCommand seals the deal.
6) Danxor3 6-0 I'm way faster
7) NTheo 6-0
OTP, I definitely go infinite and play Helix protected by Chant. OTD, I'm moderately sure there's no way for you to stop me getting infinite lands by your T4 (dodging Disaster barely and giving potato to you) and then Helix + Chant.
| 0 2 2 6 0 6 6 X | 22 |
Tricky matchups to score! Still not totally certain on NTheo and ConvoyAvenger, at least.
3) Convoy_Avenger 3-3 It does not beat lab man on the play
4) ManyCookies 0-6 a Force to be reckoned with
5) Danxor3 0-6 another Force to be reckoned with
6) Ntheo 3-3 Turns out lab man just needs a therapy session to be made useless
7) Anachronity 3-3 uninteractive T1 wins
8) Feyd_Ruin 0-6 yet more Force to be reckoned with
9) Mother Mamba 3-3 T1 Inquiry vs T1 Labman
| 6 2 0 0 2 2 0 2 | 14 |
Meh, obvious deck is obvious.
2) Anachronity 3-3 Agreed
3) ManyCookies 3-3 Agreed
4) Danxor3 2-2 Defiance gets rid of your top end, but Keeper stalls out against Celebrant combo.
5) NTheo 2-2 If you play Refugee, I Defiance to cut off the rest of your hand and Refugee vs twinned Celebrant stalls out. If you don't play Refugee, I wait to cast Defiance with 2 modes targetting you to get around Shunt and then win, so the tie is what you play for.
6) Sizel :: 2-2 Defiance only targets you, not both of us. That being said, I agree that T4 Defiance to kill your morph and discard your hand is the best play, and Keeper alone is enough to stop Celebrant combo
7) xStormaggedonx 6-0 See, this was more the sort of deck I was hoping to play against. I combo and win
9) Convoy_Avenger 4-1 Celebrant combo stalls out against Refugee on the draw, but on the play I Defiance you and win.
| 6 2 2 2 2 2 6 X 4 | 26 |
See, I had been hoping to beat *other* Twin-style decks as well as big-threat decks like Storm's. I did not think of Protection from Red. Oops. Defiance is really good and I should've just relied on that to win and done the slower but wider and safer combo with Zealous Conscripts, but hey, hindsight's 20/20.