magiccards.info/query?q=animation+module
9/20/2016: Abilities that trigger when counters are placed on a permanent trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield with counters and when a player puts counters on a permanent.
I suppose if you are worried about ambiguity, you could use something like the stupid "cycle or discard" triggers like Drake Haven.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control with one or more +1/+1 counters on it or one or more +1/+1 counters are placed on a creature you control, create that many 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens.
But blech.
...oh, your ability starts "Whenever a +1/+1 counter" but then has "create that many". That will trigger for each counter, then each trigger will create one token. Either make it "Whenever a +1/+1 counter ... create a" or "Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters ... create that many".
If they have to be references to older cards, but there are not enough good clean cards to use, then I think just make it a partial cycle.
I would go with Serra Zealot and Aven Skirmisher and use enemy colors. Both flying and first strike could fit in either black or red. Using black with first strike and red with flying could be nice.
Reminds me of off-color kicker (Benalish Emissary) or the Ravnica (Boros Fury-Shield) and Shadowmoor (Firespout) cards that care about the colors of mana spent to cast a spell. Or just hybrid mana in general.
4cmc, but in a similar vein, I made this card after seeing players feel embarrassed for using Diabolic Tutor to search for a land card like Cabal Coffers.
Diabolic Plot2BG Sorcery (U)
Choose one --
* Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
* Search your library for up to two land cards, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle your library.
"Get it? A plot like a scheme or like an area of land!? Ha ha ha. ha. ... okay, move along."
Could this check if a creature has already died like morbid?
Reap -- [cost], Discard CARDNAME: If a creature died this turn, [effect].
or Reap -- [cost], Discard CARDNAME: [Effect]. Activate this ability only if a creature died this turn.
Do you have mechanics that care about whether a creature has communed this turn? If not, maybe:
Whenever you target this creature with an instant or sorcery for the first time each turn, you may copy that spell targeting another creature you control you haven't targeted with an instant or sorcery this turn.
And if it was on creatures, that would be hitting the problematic flavor of someone sacrificing themselves to bring someone else back that Forestsguy was bringing up.
When keywording a recursion mechanic, you need to be careful about creating repetitive gamestates. Maybe this is not as bad as dredge always bringing back the same card, but it will always be bringing back your best card.
Interment - Can't use the word "target" twice like this. Currently you would need to target both a creature on the battlefield and a creature card in a graveyard, then decide on resolution which of the two to exile.
The obvious first option is to make it modal, but that might be a bit too cluttered and awkward with the exhume ability at the bottom.
Exile target creature or creature card from a graveyard.
Exile target creature from the battlefield or creature card from a graveyard.
Exile target creature and up to one target creature card from a graveyard.
Dig Deep - I'm not sure whether you thought this far ahead, for effects like this, I always try to consider the very late game. If there are fewer cards in the library than this is looking at, should it be able to deck the targeted player or just set their next draws? i.e. What you have or:
Look at the top six cards of target player's library. Put two of them back in any order and the rest into that player's graveyard.
No wrong answer really, but really late game one can be used on the opponent to win and the game and the other can be used on yourself to fix your last two draws.
Enshrine - Are there effects that can exile enchantments in this set? Seems like indestructible might be a bit excessive.
Brainstorming some more positive sounding names:
Employ
Escalate
Inflate
Swell
Should the parameter be switched around to be the extra cost and just always add one counter similar to cummulative upkeep?
T, Inflate 1(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): [ability]
or possibly:
T, Inflate 1(Put an inflation counter on this, then pay for each inflation counter on it): [ability]
It changes some of the designs you can do and unfortunately pretty much kills any ideas like the Merfolk with two fatigue abilities, but it might feel a bit more intuitive and might allow for better balancing with repeated use of some abilities.
Then if you do anything that cares about the number of counters on the creature, you could also make that number always be the same checking that you have activated a creature's ability at least three times.
Helping Dude2G Creature - Elf Warrior T, Inflate G(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
2/2
Fiery Dude1R Creature - Goblin Shaman T, Inflate R(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Twiddly Dude1U Creature - Merfolk Wizard T, Inflate U(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): You may tap or untap target permanent.
0/3
Necrotic Dude2B Creature - Zombie T, Inflate B(Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Look at the top two cards of target player’s library. Put one of those cards into that player’s graveyard.
2/2
I was going to recommend something stupid/goofy like "scry 1" for Dancing Cyclops, since a Cyclops has only one eye.
New Sabbat Keeper should probably cost more than {1} to remove a counter so there is a little more decision into how much mana you are willing to pay for your shrink spells now versus more mana later. {2} would be better, and at the high end, maybe {3} similar to Feral Hydra. If you want it to be more of a build around card, maybe try it similar to Steel Overseer "{T}: Remove a -1/-1 counter from each creature you control."
If "Everything has srink" still tests to be too comborific with artifacts and Eldrazi, you can remove probably most of the more problematic cards by amending it to "Colored creature spells you cast have shrink."
The state-based actions that put the creature into the graveyard and annihilate the +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters happen at the same time. Modular looks back at how many +1/+1 counters the creature had while it was last on the battlefield. If Arcbound Bruiser blocks a Scourge Servant, the modular ability can still put three +1/+1 counters on an artifact creature.
Angry Cabritu works as a design because it is still doing something even if it immediately dies. Dancing Cyclops has no secondary effect though so playing it as cheap as possible just feels confusing. If the red creatures also all have either an enter or leave trigger, then it would be perfectly fine for them to immediately die similar to evoke.
magiccards.info/query?q=animation+module
9/20/2016: Abilities that trigger when counters are placed on a permanent trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield with counters and when a player puts counters on a permanent.
I suppose if you are worried about ambiguity, you could use something like the stupid "cycle or discard" triggers like Drake Haven.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control with one or more +1/+1 counters on it or one or more +1/+1 counters are placed on a creature you control, create that many 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens.
But blech.
...oh, your ability starts "Whenever a +1/+1 counter" but then has "create that many". That will trigger for each counter, then each trigger will create one token. Either make it "Whenever a +1/+1 counter ... create a" or "Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters ... create that many".
I would go with Serra Zealot and Aven Skirmisher and use enemy colors. Both flying and first strike could fit in either black or red. Using black with first strike and red with flying could be nice.
Diabolic Plot 2BG
Sorcery (U)
Choose one --
* Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
* Search your library for up to two land cards, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle your library.
"Get it? A plot like a scheme or like an area of land!? Ha ha ha. ha. ... okay, move along."
Reap -- [cost], Discard CARDNAME: If a creature died this turn, [effect].
or
Reap -- [cost], Discard CARDNAME: [Effect]. Activate this ability only if a creature died this turn.
or maybe just reuse morbid?
Whenever you target this creature with an instant or sorcery for the first time each turn, you may copy that spell targeting another creature you control you haven't targeted with an instant or sorcery this turn.
When keywording a recursion mechanic, you need to be careful about creating repetitive gamestates. Maybe this is not as bad as dredge always bringing back the same card, but it will always be bringing back your best card.
Interment - Can't use the word "target" twice like this. Currently you would need to target both a creature on the battlefield and a creature card in a graveyard, then decide on resolution which of the two to exile.
The obvious first option is to make it modal, but that might be a bit too cluttered and awkward with the exhume ability at the bottom.
Dig Deep - I'm not sure whether you thought this far ahead, for effects like this, I always try to consider the very late game. If there are fewer cards in the library than this is looking at, should it be able to deck the targeted player or just set their next draws? i.e. What you have or:
No wrong answer really, but really late game one can be used on the opponent to win and the game and the other can be used on yourself to fix your last two draws.
Enshrine - Are there effects that can exile enchantments in this set? Seems like indestructible might be a bit excessive.
The cycle of grave recursion feels really awkward and not something that should be a cycle.
Employ
Escalate
Inflate
Swell
Should the parameter be switched around to be the extra cost and just always add one counter similar to cummulative upkeep?
or possibly:
It changes some of the designs you can do and unfortunately pretty much kills any ideas like the Merfolk with two fatigue abilities, but it might feel a bit more intuitive and might allow for better balancing with repeated use of some abilities.
Then if you do anything that cares about the number of counters on the creature, you could also make that number always be the same checking that you have activated a creature's ability at least three times.
Creature - Elf Warrior
T, Inflate G (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
2/2
Fiery Dude 1R
Creature - Goblin Shaman
T, Inflate R (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Twiddly Dude 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
T, Inflate U (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): You may tap or untap target permanent.
0/3
Necrotic Dude 2B
Creature - Zombie
T, Inflate B (Pay for each inflation counter on this, then add an inflation counter): Look at the top two cards of target player’s library. Put one of those cards into that player’s graveyard.
2/2
New Sabbat Keeper should probably cost more than {1} to remove a counter so there is a little more decision into how much mana you are willing to pay for your shrink spells now versus more mana later. {2} would be better, and at the high end, maybe {3} similar to Feral Hydra. If you want it to be more of a build around card, maybe try it similar to Steel Overseer "{T}: Remove a -1/-1 counter from each creature you control."
If "Everything has srink" still tests to be too comborific with artifacts and Eldrazi, you can remove probably most of the more problematic cards by amending it to "Colored creature spells you cast have shrink."
Especially if most of the rare cards and all of the common and uncommon cards can get by with just a single d6.