For each pack, they keep 5, pass 5 to their right, and 5 to their left. Then the next pack is drafted.
You end the draft with 20 cards of your own choosing, 20 from the left, and 20 from the right.
---
So that’s the idea. It’s sort of half-sealed, with an element of hate drafting.
Things I like about it:
- The decisions feel agonizingly difficult, which is nice! It feels like there’s room for mastery.
- The not-very-noob-friendly elements of draft are not as obvious. It feels new player friendly.
- Scales to any number of players (thought its probably not ideal foor 2).
- You can chat with the folks to your left or right during each round Yay, friends!
- You’re “open” for longer. It takes a while to figure out what’s open to you.
- Each new draft feels totally fresh, even with a tighter cube.
- There’s an element of chaos! Personal preference: I like when drafters have to struggle a little to put their decks together.
Things I don’t like about it:
- Each round seems like it would take a long time (tho perhaps not moreso than with regular drafting).
- Each player sees only a fraction of the cube.
- It somehow feels like a LOT more cards to keep track of than a traditional draft.
- Clever players to your left and right will **** you over, so there’s an incentive to keep all your cards hidden. While that’s fine, it doesn’t seem like the most fun way to play.
Yep, I think I'm going to stick with the upkeep decay and user_938036's suggestion. I can see the potential problems, but the lifegain and loss interactions are so integral to the central concept that it wouldn't make sense to treat it as energy.
Thanks for the quick feedback guys I'll respond as best I can.
The set I'm working on encourages using one's life in a bunch of ways: symmetrical life loss, paying life as a cost, etc. One of the core mechanics is Retribution, which simply says "If you lost life this turn, [effect]." I wanted an engaging way to turn on Retribution without having a bunch of "Pay X life: [effect]" permanents at common, and my solution was False Life.
The original idea was for False Life to act as an alternative life resource: you could get more of it for cheaper, but it would slowly decay afterwards. You could use the decay to turn on Retribution OR spend it all at once to make the most of it OR use it as a temporary shield against a particularly aggressive opponent.
As for how it fits into the set, I'd use it as an alternative to regular life gain in WBG. Retribution appears in all colors, but would be centered in RWU (in order of emphasis).
Some examples:
Stinger Crook R
Creature - Human Rogue
First Strike
Retribution - If you lost life this turn, ~ has +1/+0.
1/1
Hatelash R
Instant
~ deals 1 damage to any target.
Retribution — If you lost life this turn, ~ deals 3 damage to that target instead.
Fetishize the Flesh W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack.
Retribution — If you lost life this turn, enchanted creature can't block.
Painwing 2U
Creature - Demon
Retribution — If you lost life this turn, ~ has flying.
3/2
And here's another false life generator:
Cruel Hemomancer 3B
Creature - Demon Cleric
Falselifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much false life. At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 2 false life.)
4/3
User_938036 makes a good point; I think false life should always be the first to go. Perhaps there should be some combination of mana conversion as well as the slow decay, something like: (At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 2 false life. If you do, add C at the beginning of your next main phase.)?
I'm currently working on a set with a major focus on lifegain and lifeloss. One of the mechanics I'm focusing on encourages losing life before combat damage is dealt, so to fulfill that need I designed this mechanic:
Brink Healer 1W
Creature - Azra Cleric
When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain 5 false life.
1/3
It's inspired by the Psylian Life mechanic from Rezatta. Basically, your life total is equal to your regular life plus your false life. Whenever a source causes you to lose life, that source's controller chooses which life you lose first.
However, I'm not sure how I want false life to be different from regular life. Here's what I've come up with so far:
Brink Healer 1W
Creature - Azra Cleric
When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain 7 false life. (At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 2 false life.)
1/3
Brink Healer 1W
Creature - Azra Cleric
When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain 7 false life. (Whenever you cast a spell, lose 2 false life.)
1/3
Brink Healer 1W
Creature - Azra Cleric
When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain 3 false life. (Pay 2 false life: Add C.)
1/3
Which do you think are most interesting? I'm open to entirely new suggestions.
Each player gets 4 (3?) packs of 15.
For each pack, they keep 5, pass 5 to their right, and 5 to their left. Then the next pack is drafted.
You end the draft with 20 cards of your own choosing, 20 from the left, and 20 from the right.
---
So that’s the idea. It’s sort of half-sealed, with an element of hate drafting.
Things I like about it:
- The decisions feel agonizingly difficult, which is nice! It feels like there’s room for mastery.
- The not-very-noob-friendly elements of draft are not as obvious. It feels new player friendly.
- Scales to any number of players (thought its probably not ideal foor 2).
- You can chat with the folks to your left or right during each round
- You’re “open” for longer. It takes a while to figure out what’s open to you.
- Each new draft feels totally fresh, even with a tighter cube.
- There’s an element of chaos! Personal preference: I like when drafters have to struggle a little to put their decks together.
Things I don’t like about it:
- Each round seems like it would take a long time (tho perhaps not moreso than with regular drafting).
- Each player sees only a fraction of the cube.
- It somehow feels like a LOT more cards to keep track of than a traditional draft.
- Clever players to your left and right will **** you over, so there’s an incentive to keep all your cards hidden. While that’s fine, it doesn’t seem like the most fun way to play.
Thoughts?
The set I'm working on encourages using one's life in a bunch of ways: symmetrical life loss, paying life as a cost, etc. One of the core mechanics is Retribution, which simply says "If you lost life this turn, [effect]." I wanted an engaging way to turn on Retribution without having a bunch of "Pay X life: [effect]" permanents at common, and my solution was False Life.
The original idea was for False Life to act as an alternative life resource: you could get more of it for cheaper, but it would slowly decay afterwards. You could use the decay to turn on Retribution OR spend it all at once to make the most of it OR use it as a temporary shield against a particularly aggressive opponent.
As for how it fits into the set, I'd use it as an alternative to regular life gain in WBG. Retribution appears in all colors, but would be centered in RWU (in order of emphasis).
Some examples:
And here's another false life generator:
User_938036 makes a good point; I think false life should always be the first to go. Perhaps there should be some combination of mana conversion as well as the slow decay, something like: (At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 2 false life. If you do, add C at the beginning of your next main phase.)?
It's inspired by the Psylian Life mechanic from Rezatta. Basically, your life total is equal to your regular life plus your false life. Whenever a source causes you to lose life, that source's controller chooses which life you lose first.
However, I'm not sure how I want false life to be different from regular life. Here's what I've come up with so far:
Which do you think are most interesting? I'm open to entirely new suggestions.