I don't mind the ability, although it's a little overly-complicated for what you're essentially trying to do (tax them for two mana or have them discard a card/sacrifice a permanent).
There is a technical issue in the fact that they might reveal all non-permanent cards, and then they can bypass the punishing effect because there are no permanents of those types.
I would just like to weigh in by saying that this being multicolor doesn't break any colors at all. It should be well achievable with this kind of wide-array spectrum (trans-versing three different colors). Anyone who would think to limit the creativity of three color creation is simply being unimaginative.
Adonis the Blind Raging Insanity2RRR Legendary Creature — Avatar Elemental
Adonis the Blind Raging Insanity can't be countered.
Haste
Whenever Adonis blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, you may have it gain up to three keyword abilities of your choice that creature has. If you do, that creature loses those abilities until end of turn.
5/5
Here's a card that actualy belongs in the Knuxtxdxth set. This is essentially a color-shift version of the King or 'Judge' of Knuxtxdxth—the central character of the story. The concept here represents a dramatic scene towards the end of the story where he is possessed by God (The Divine Spirit). The word blind here is provided in the context of 'excommunication'—a point of no return—where all pleas and attempts to reason are closed. The king or Judge is actually still unnamed, and the name ]ONEK;N provided here is simply just a placeholder. There's a neat story that goes back to my childhood regarding this name. When Pokemon Silver first came out, I had got the game for Christmas, and also got a Gameshark to go with it. It wasn't long after that I ended up somehow damaging the case on the Gameshark. I think I dropped it and it ended up splitting the case open. I had tapped the case together with electrical tape to hold it. One day, I was playing Pokemon Silver, and I think I was messing around with some stat codes. This was something I'd normally never do. Well, the game suddenly glitched out on me and shutdown, and when it restarted, my name had been changed to this. I was kind of shocked at first, but thought it was really cool (neo-esque), so I decided to keep it. I ended up liking the style of name so much, it became my permanent name for all my Pokemon games after.
Character update here. I decided that the King of Knuxtxdxth would be Adonis. This is a character from the first major project I ever worked on, dubbed Mythgard. This is a project I never actually finished, because I used the development as a proxy terrain to wage war against facets of corruption on the original Wizards Community You Make the Card forum. A large portion of the story, various characters, and entire color designations were fabricated in place of the actual concepts I had in mind for the set.
This character is actually apart of the story. Adonis is a very powerful Knight fighting for the freedom of Mythgard at the fall of mankind. He is the personification of Uranus, the first of 10 primordial children of Genesis. Adonis is the true name of Uranus. It is a romanticization of Adonai (The Lord in Hebrew). He exchanges his spark with a hopeful, yet meek holyman Kyten. Kyten lived in oppression, yet passionately sided with the Divine Spirit and faithful rebels in the 'War in Heaven'. Mythgard was one of the last battlefields in this war. A plane created as a devil's playground by two of the Fallen Angels (two of the primordial children of Genesis)—Gaea (the primordial love of Adonis) and Szun (the primordial love of Lilith—the primordial Asian woman of Genesis). These two fallen angels come to be prominently known as Moloch and Satan.
Knuxtxdxth is a like a deeper ring of Hell. Existing like a concentration camp and intended as a greater torture device against the Divine Spirit. The people are so imbued by the neo dystopian way of life, that is all the plane has ever known, and recovering the plane and re-constituting its people would require a long, hard-fought campaign. One of the only humane entities capable of this—is of course Adonis. And therein begins his takeover and reign of Knuxtxdxth, seeking to restore the balance and hopefully live in peace amongst the presence of the Divine Spirit once again.
If you don't believe me on the lands thing, check out the "3-0 deck compendium" in this very forum. You'll see approximately zero decks that run less than 16 lands. You can probably Google up some winning draft decks from recent Mythic Championships as well and see how many lands they were running. Again, I guarantee it's 16+ for nearly all of them.
Are they running fetch lands though? Because those count as two for one with the way they thin the deck down. They'll only see explicit success for this reason—the effect helps to unadulterate the deck's consistency. If you're not running fetch lands, then you have to secure your mathematical proportions for yourself (via the percentile clench).
Note that the replacement effect also enables you to 'cut the fat' in your own deck by removing a land draw, and additionally, can disrupt the very popular scry seen throughout the set. I honestly think if a person neglects the utility of icing cards that would be a major threat to them, they are missing out. Unless you're faced with an incredible grab, it's a no brainer. "This card is not something you want to be up against in a limited format." On average, there are about 7 grabs you have open to anything. You definitely want to use them for this purpose. That leaves another 7 grabs open to the demands of early draft, where you might have to make arrangements in response to possibly splashing into another color. I'd never call this overrated, but moreso is advanced, and is embodied by the great challenge of not getting carried away with icing too many grabs.
I've played Magic since 7th Edition, and in all my experience, a 40% percentile clench adulterates the consistency of the deck too much. You will get too many wasted land draws, and that will often kill you in keeping up with the game pace. Something like 32%~35% is a much more solid percentile clench for balancing between lands and your prime content.
My initial point was that the God designs were pretty internal, as to not need direct support for themselves. Moreso, they aim to support other content, so the technique for building around them would involve creating designs that they boost or help to utilize.
For example, the second ability of Prismatic Priest isn't needed in blue as much as it's needed in black or red. You mine as well make it "Creatures you control may attack and block as though they're unaffected by any spells or abilities." It might remove the isolated boundaries you intended for grace ('balance'), but it opens upinteractivity, and could you explain why those matter (the restrictive boundaries—only 'can't attack' and 'can't block' abilities)?
Automatically enabling devotion is kind of a lack-luster, no go either. I think it detracts too heavily from interaction, as to break the aspect of challenge, one of the primary aspects of fun that make up the game. It's just a very blanche and unimaginative effort—even if such an effect would perfectly match a concept such as True Believer.
That card is only if you're running more than one color. If you're doing monocolor, you mine as well just run another land.
Otherwise, it enables you to run a high-low split between the lands of your two colors (5 and 10)―to secure favorable conditions for the consistency of your primary color—then use two or three amulet to transverse between your needs. Say if you need to get into your sub-color, or if you need extend your color heavy capabilities (such as to increase your devotion).
You don't think there are enough non-basics? Those Temples were all over the place.
This deck is running a 32% land base. What makes you think it needs a higher percentile clench than that?
I might have done some wasted grabs with a lot of the lands, but I lucked up at the end when I was able to grab that Underworld Fires—that's the nope. Same with Mire's Grasp at the beginning. A bit of an advanced tactic grabbing things that can be a major threat against you.
It probably does come off that way (idiosyncratic), as I have a very in-depth understanding of the game down to its finest intricacies and most fundamental dynamics. It seems to be very arcane knowledge, and denotes how many people have actually been designing the content for this game entirely blind. I am never trying to be overbearing. I am simply never trying to just say something and leave it unexplained, or leave it to the interpretation of others. Whenever you make a statement, it's often crucial to explain the concept/dynamic/principal, to ensure that your statements will be understood as intended, or as the concept truly exists. Understanding is all about detail (the understanding of scientific reality). And that is why I go out of my way so hard to explain everything.
The Elder Dinosaurs should have been on par with the Eldrazi in respects to their concept as a character of grandeur. They were essentially God scale characters.
One thing I've learned from especially Richard Garfield's designs is that within certain boundaries, a card can never be too powerful. And in my advanced interpretations, I can tell you that so long as some fundamental interactivity remains, linking the card to the open world to be engaged with (and not locking itself out entirely); it will remain pure and true to the game in all respects of fairness and fun (despite even large measures of power).
There is a bit of a technical factor in this regarding the aspect of grace. Essentially, a card can lock out interactivity if it wants to do too much for itself (and be too self-sufficient); cutting out the necessity for outside resources to interact with, or support it. So it's not just about being evasive/unstoppable/invincible—but is also about 'Never Putting The I In Team'. This can be a very tricky concept to understand, because certain levels of self-sufficiency can be crucial to the design's play value. If it doesn't have an essential amount of self-sufficiency that it beneficial to it, then its play options will be too limited for its own good. Not providing this fundamental level of self-sufficiency can cripple a design's playability this way—just as doing too much can make it appear vulgar and gaudy (or actually unfair/unfun).
Typically, you want to do one thing and do it well. And when you are doing more than this, you want to give a restriction for each permission.
This guy only has 4 power? They mine as well just made it an 8/8 with doublstrike for that cost (or just upped it to 10). It should have been on par with the Eldrazi. Moreso than support, many designs need to reprised entirely.
It is certain that some effects have more domain and influence on the game, and thus should not be left out of any color because it throws the entire balance of power off. If I was to assign a value of influence to various effects in the game, it's obvious that removal and creature aren't going to have the same value. Because the post-ex-facto dynamic of removal makes it more precedent. One giveth, but then one taketh away. And thus, the after-the-fact-of effect becomes the precedent everlasting one. More domain (time and space)—thus more value of influence. Even if they did have the same values (as board advantage—one for one), when the totals all add up, one color having both, and the other only having one, is going to set one color out of balance with the others (its influence total is higher).
Card drawing (card advantage) should be a much easier concept to understand. The flow of the cards a core-fundamental of the game. A player who is able to resource more cards is naturally going to have the advantage in a vacuum (more domain over time and space). The ideal isn't to open unlimited potential for resourcing cards, but wants to gracefully limit it (balance it). And would want to do this by the same means that Pokemon Trading Card Game has: Put an emphasis on providing outlets for all types of basic card advantage capabilities. You have straight draw (cards draw off the top). You have wheel effects (shuffle and re-draw). You have direct retrieval (direct access to a specific card). Each of these outlets have their own differing value of influence on how they effect the flow of the cards, and the overall card advantage potential they provide; based on how their dynamics work in strategic means (domain over space and time—circumvention over the probability factor). Let me explain that last one in a bit greater detail. Some cards (such as direct retrieval) enable you circumvent probability, thus having a great value of influence (domain over time and space) in a vacuum. This is checked against the Entropy Factor—overall value of your needs (domain over space and time).
In general, the entropy of ones needs exceeds a single card, and so the measure of domain (over space and time) needed to be sufficient for success can't be met if the only card advantage outlet provided is direct retrieval. One will have to source the other needs faced directly against probability. And typically, this is where additional card advantage outlets help to close the gap. As they provide sizable measures influence, to help capture the Entropy Factor, despite being faced directly against probability.
The strategic dynamics of these card advantage outlets (and total value of influence they have collectively) also change based on the combination sequence in which they are used together.
MTG has legendarily provided these effects. There's only so much space in card game development to work with. However, they have also legendarily failed to put the emphasis on, and consistently provide, the volume (combination of outlets) which can produce sufficient capabilities equally across all colors.
Here's a great example in a deck I made awhile back in 2008, which plays incredibly well due to an anomaly in development which enables it to play out like a PTCG deck. I was able to secure a high percentile clench between the combination of Joiner Adept and Prismatic Omen. While Treefolk Harbinger provided extensions of Doran the Siege Tower (further securing high percentile clenches for important content); and Harmonize then enabling high influence value to capture entropy with-and in addition to that.
It could probably use Dungrove Elder these days. And obviously, I could have updated the land base with something like this below. But after playing it out a few times, it didn't even seem necessary. Also, Verdant Catacombs didn't exist back then. I would have had to use Wooded Foothills instead with Windswept Heath. I could have probably even used Grasslands or Mountain Valley—it played out so well.
And I guess other techs could be made, including swaping out Joiner Adept for Birds of Paradise, and skimming down Wandering Stream and Harmonize for Green Sun's Zenith. I would probably just run 3 Doran at that point and 4 Birds. You would definitely need to run the lands above though with this configuration. I would also be tempted to tech 1 Indomitable Ancients I think.
Saw a link in my Google news feed just now promoting draftsim and decided to give it a whirl. Note I haven't played draft since Lorwyn, where I drafted green/black, mostly elves; and probably would have won, but threw the draft by going out of the way with a 60 card deck, instead of keeping it lean keeping it tight with 40 card deck. Below are the leftovers. I originally thought to draft black/white, but since protection seems non-existent among the set, it's obviously not necessary. And as the draft progressed, the prime content in my selection quickly shifted to a strong white dominance.
Kunoros was my first draft pick. And holy I Found The F is that card an abomination of a design. It wants to be waaay too self-sufficient, and is loaded with all kinds of stuff that other content should have been relied on to grant it. Really desperate and power-hungry. I think just vigilance would have been great. I would have maybe contemplated protection from enchantments. In the set, it serves as a double punisher, making it more of an immovable/unstoppable object that it seems to desire to be; while creating a unique restriction for the cost:power-level ratio. Although there are claims that this AI is really good, I think it has some kinks in it, just based on the fact that I was passed a Field of Ruin twice, and in a real draft environment I honestly don't believe that would have made its way to me through three people. Maybe just a hopeful result, but this is it none-the-less.
Ancestral LegacyU Enchantment
At the end of the third turn after Ancestral Legacy entered the battlefield, sacrifice it.
If Ancestral Legacy is destroyed by a source you control, draw three cards. Otherwise, when Ancestral Legacy leaves the battlefield, draw a card then discard two cards.
This design concept took inspiration from the spiders in classic Centipede. You essentially have a small time-frame to destroy the enchantment for the bonus—or then you possibly get an effect that has a moderate drawback (this is not definite). In this case, you have three turns to destroy the Legacy and draw three cards. It uses a time-lapse to balance the power-curve. This could become a new template medium to channel Power 9-esque Alpha effects. I didn't originally think to do this as a Saga, but it just seemed like the easiest way to get the concept down without having to deal with questionably irrelevant keywords (Fading—Vanishing); or unnecessary complications with counters. I don't like the redundancy of the text in the form of a Saga, so am thinking of another way to accomplish this in a neater, more direct package.
I'm not understanding the unnecessary colors. Konda was deeply rooted in monowhite standing—seeking balance between all things.
He wasn't a very malleable or manipulable character. Immovable. Stern—stoic. You realize this bend on the colors breaks his character entirely?
The effects aren't very functional either. Typically, you want to do one thing and do it very well. This guy is all over the place. Doing a lot of different things that is going to detract from interactivity, in the sense that you are relying on a single resource to do the job that is naturally desired by many (or a few key) resources instead, to breed interactivity in the game. This interactivity is what fuels the primary fun factor of the game. It's a team effort. You don't want one card hogging the ball like this. It's even a bad example of a Timmy card, in that its hogging up interactivity, and not just being a standalone powerhouse. You really just want to do one of these things, then transverse the abilities (indestructible and bushido) into his own character, so that he can hold his own as an offensive/defensive resource.
Sacrificing spirits isn't likely going to be a very hopeful endeavor either, as they're not likely to be as prominently available as one would need them to be. You'll be lucky to have maybe one you can spare, and then you're probably just be using the ability to save him, so you mine as well just give him indestructible and not bother going out of way like this. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails has a pretty similar effect, only less demanding, and still wasn't as self-sufficient as it needed to be to see any alpha potential. Costs like this are simply too demanding.
I notice how you're trying to blend the co-existence line between spirits and humans, but actually trying to build a deck with a sufficient number of both is a disaster waiting to happen. Commander if you're lucky, but there's still tons of room for improvement/optimization. For spirits, you'll want to use one drops or two drops, rendering affinity useless. It'd be better off the other way around, giving humans affinity for spirits (which makes more sense as well). Then you could bridge around other supportive core-essential content (such as removal) which is designedto create spiritsin addition to their primary functions.
I really liked affinity too, but it's awkward for me to see it outside of Mirrodin (or Mirrodin styled cards). Just feels out of place. Kamigawa had offering, which was introvertly similar to champion in Lorwyn. I don't really feel either of those are a better replacement for affinity, but why not just work a custom ability instead?
"Non-Spirit creature spells and activated abilities of non-Spirit creatures cost 1 less to cast for each Spirit you control".
It's more dynamic and unique, and more of does a single thing and does it well.
He probably really just wants to be able to summon a spirit, along the lines of Living Wish.
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures you control and put it onto the battlefield."
or even
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield and put it onto the battlefield."
Now you're really getting dynamic and self-sufficient, and freeing up all that resource dependency so that you can freely use Spirit intuitive content as I mentioned above (removal, disruption, etc.) to keep stride with the game pace (flow of the cards, hand advantage, board advantage).
Let me just start off by saying that the choice to abbreviate the mana function was such a poor executive order. It's so bad for coherence. Only a person suffering from terrible attention deficit could have thought of something like this. Someone whose neurotransmitters have dipped far too low, and possibly far too often, or far too long. I strongly believe that some things simply have to be spelling out entirely—because it's important for coherence—and additional gives the wording composure a fuller, more appealing body. In being fuller and more descriptively coherent, it's easier on the eyes to behold, and on the mind to read.
Misty Island: I like this. It's a very neat concept. How do you envision this to work though? Can you still only play one land a turn—even during an opponent's turn? I don't think you intent for it to work that way. And with this concept, you're essentially looking for a way to sneak out Akroma. In any case, I think it's a really neat ramp. But it certainly isn't as functional as a land wants to be, and a deck strategy doesn't want to go out on a limb trying to do this, for something that aims to be accomplished by more proficient means. Such as ones external from key resources (such as lands)—or by supplementary means which are more expendable than lands are. This is why cards like Hickory Woodlot haven't thrived in competitive play. Your concept might be more dynamic and interactive, but it's not even as high-functioning as the example given. It's still a great design though! And certainly has lots of interesting functionality. Might I suggest shuffling it back into the library instead of sacrificing it. The operating function is very graceful and aesthetic—it doesn't want to be so short-lived. That really kills the appeal. You don't want that for this. This is a gem, centerpiece design for its dynamic nature and interactivity. You want to preserve as much of its appeal as possible. And that's why I suggest recycling it instead of ditching it. For the light touch it provides, the power-level is just fine and perfectly balanced as it is. I think the first ability wants to be worded like: "You may play Misty Island during an opponent's turn and at anytime you could cast an instant."
Prairie: This is basically just reprinting dual lands repackaged. It's justas powerfulas anydual land (but has no boundaries to it). You're basically back from scratch here, so I don't really have much I can add about it. It's way too open to interpretation. One thing I can tell you though, is that lands (and especially dual lands) do not want to enter the battlefield tapped. They want literally any kind of condition that helps them to evade this, and certainly do not want conditions, then have to enter the battlefield tapped anyways. That's just...too low-functioning...and lands can't afford to be so autistic. They want to be fresh and ready to go. It's a hot date—let's get this show on the road!
Drying River: Another very neat concept. There's not particularly wrong with it at all. I really enjoy the concept in the way it paints the landscape scenario as it does. You should note though, that although this functions just fine, it's not as proficient as a land wants to be. So much so—that it could be expected to fall into the obscurities of other uncommon level dual lands—or even dollar bin full spectrum lands. My biggest concern is if you actually realize that these may never really do what you need them to do. The time-lapse here is so short—and also aggressive. A sequence of aspects that don't correlate well to mana fixing. The instance can be short-lived (one time)—but it can't afford to be rushed. You need mana fixing utilities to be able to remain on standby until they're needed. With that said, operating function of Sagas doesn't correspond well for mana fixing. And actually doesn't correspond well to lands in general. Lands aren't very expendable resources. It's an incrediblycrippling cost to pay, and only cardsthat offerridiculous levels powercan support them. It would be really interesting to see a take on fetch lands I think. That would be a much better way to keep the game pace in good measure.
Draw-land: Oh wow—this is terrifying. Not sure how competitive you would expect this to be, but one thing you really never want to do is give your opponent any card advantage. This land would be really out of the question for me if I was looking to build a deck. And I would feel really bad going up against someone so strategically inept to try using it. Not really much to add about it. It's pretty blanche and unimaginative. Consider thinking up something more interactive. You obviously have the potential for that. This is a wasted opportunity on a chase rare. And not something you would want your name signed to as the creator. People would say you have no talent at all.
Hand-land: The drawback for this one certainly isn't enough to warrant the mana fixing. If I did this, I would probably consider no less than 3 cards (and up to 5 cards even) for the restriction. It has to be something that instantly feels fair because it creates an instantly identifiable challenge. Having to work off two cards can be pretty tough. Although it can be circumvented by the likesof other cards, that actually doesn't matter, since that starts getting into multiple resource dependencies. It's no different from playing a distant Fertile Ground then. On that note, it's kind of out of the way to be intensely competitive. Yet still much more intriguing than the draw-land.
There is a technical issue in the fact that they might reveal all non-permanent cards, and then they can bypass the punishing effect because there are no permanents of those types.
I would just like to weigh in by saying that this being multicolor doesn't break any colors at all. It should be well achievable with this kind of wide-array spectrum (trans-versing three different colors). Anyone who would think to limit the creativity of three color creation is simply being unimaginative.
Legendary Creature — Avatar Elemental
Adonis the Blind Raging Insanity can't be countered.
Haste
Whenever Adonis blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, you may have it gain up to three keyword abilities of your choice that creature has. If you do, that creature loses those abilities until end of turn.
5/5
Here's a card that actualy belongs in the Knuxtxdxth set. This is essentially a color-shift version of the King or 'Judge' of Knuxtxdxth—the central character of the story. The concept here represents a dramatic scene towards the end of the story where he is possessed by God (The Divine Spirit). The word blind here is provided in the context of 'excommunication'—a point of no return—where all pleas and attempts to reason are closed. The king or Judge is actually still unnamed, and the name ]ONEK;N provided here is simply just a placeholder. There's a neat story that goes back to my childhood regarding this name. When Pokemon Silver first came out, I had got the game for Christmas, and also got a Gameshark to go with it. It wasn't long after that I ended up somehow damaging the case on the Gameshark. I think I dropped it and it ended up splitting the case open. I had tapped the case together with electrical tape to hold it. One day, I was playing Pokemon Silver, and I think I was messing around with some stat codes. This was something I'd normally never do. Well, the game suddenly glitched out on me and shutdown, and when it restarted, my name had been changed to this. I was kind of shocked at first, but thought it was really cool (neo-esque), so I decided to keep it. I ended up liking the style of name so much, it became my permanent name for all my Pokemon games after.
Character update here. I decided that the King of Knuxtxdxth would be Adonis. This is a character from the first major project I ever worked on, dubbed Mythgard. This is a project I never actually finished, because I used the development as a proxy terrain to wage war against facets of corruption on the original Wizards Community You Make the Card forum. A large portion of the story, various characters, and entire color designations were fabricated in place of the actual concepts I had in mind for the set.
This character is actually apart of the story. Adonis is a very powerful Knight fighting for the freedom of Mythgard at the fall of mankind. He is the personification of Uranus, the first of 10 primordial children of Genesis. Adonis is the true name of Uranus. It is a romanticization of Adonai (The Lord in Hebrew). He exchanges his spark with a hopeful, yet meek holyman Kyten. Kyten lived in oppression, yet passionately sided with the Divine Spirit and faithful rebels in the 'War in Heaven'. Mythgard was one of the last battlefields in this war. A plane created as a devil's playground by two of the Fallen Angels (two of the primordial children of Genesis)—Gaea (the primordial love of Adonis) and Szun (the primordial love of Lilith—the primordial Asian woman of Genesis). These two fallen angels come to be prominently known as Moloch and Satan.
Knuxtxdxth is a like a deeper ring of Hell. Existing like a concentration camp and intended as a greater torture device against the Divine Spirit. The people are so imbued by the neo dystopian way of life, that is all the plane has ever known, and recovering the plane and re-constituting its people would require a long, hard-fought campaign. One of the only humane entities capable of this—is of course Adonis. And therein begins his takeover and reign of Knuxtxdxth, seeking to restore the balance and hopefully live in peace amongst the presence of the Divine Spirit once again.
Are they running fetch lands though? Because those count as two for one with the way they thin the deck down. They'll only see explicit success for this reason—the effect helps to unadulterate the deck's consistency. If you're not running fetch lands, then you have to secure your mathematical proportions for yourself (via the percentile clench).
I've played Magic since 7th Edition, and in all my experience, a 40% percentile clench adulterates the consistency of the deck too much. You will get too many wasted land draws, and that will often kill you in keeping up with the game pace. Something like 32%~35% is a much more solid percentile clench for balancing between lands and your prime content.
Not saying your designs are weak, but if I was to go over them I just see some misassignments. I'm guessing you may have mixed these up on purpose?
For example, the second ability of Prismatic Priest isn't needed in blue as much as it's needed in black or red. You mine as well make it "Creatures you control may attack and block as though they're unaffected by any spells or abilities." It might remove the isolated boundaries you intended for grace ('balance'), but it opens up interactivity, and could you explain why those matter (the restrictive boundaries—only 'can't attack' and 'can't block' abilities)?
Automatically enabling devotion is kind of a lack-luster, no go either. I think it detracts too heavily from interaction, as to break the aspect of challenge, one of the primary aspects of fun that make up the game. It's just a very blanche and unimaginative effort—even if such an effect would perfectly match a concept such as True Believer.
Otherwise, it enables you to run a high-low split between the lands of your two colors (5 and 10)―to secure favorable conditions for the consistency of your primary color—then use two or three amulet to transverse between your needs. Say if you need to get into your sub-color, or if you need extend your color heavy capabilities (such as to increase your devotion).
This deck is running a 32% land base. What makes you think it needs a higher percentile clench than that?
I might have done some wasted grabs with a lot of the lands, but I lucked up at the end when I was able to grab that Underworld Fires—that's the nope. Same with Mire's Grasp at the beginning. A bit of an advanced tactic grabbing things that can be a major threat against you.
It probably does come off that way (idiosyncratic), as I have a very in-depth understanding of the game down to its finest intricacies and most fundamental dynamics. It seems to be very arcane knowledge, and denotes how many people have actually been designing the content for this game entirely blind. I am never trying to be overbearing. I am simply never trying to just say something and leave it unexplained, or leave it to the interpretation of others. Whenever you make a statement, it's often crucial to explain the concept/dynamic/principal, to ensure that your statements will be understood as intended, or as the concept truly exists. Understanding is all about detail (the understanding of scientific reality). And that is why I go out of my way so hard to explain everything.
The Elder Dinosaurs should have been on par with the Eldrazi in respects to their concept as a character of grandeur. They were essentially God scale characters.
One thing I've learned from especially Richard Garfield's designs is that within certain boundaries, a card can never be too powerful. And in my advanced interpretations, I can tell you that so long as some fundamental interactivity remains, linking the card to the open world to be engaged with (and not locking itself out entirely); it will remain pure and true to the game in all respects of fairness and fun (despite even large measures of power).
There is a bit of a technical factor in this regarding the aspect of grace. Essentially, a card can lock out interactivity if it wants to do too much for itself (and be too self-sufficient); cutting out the necessity for outside resources to interact with, or support it. So it's not just about being evasive/unstoppable/invincible—but is also about 'Never Putting The I In Team'. This can be a very tricky concept to understand, because certain levels of self-sufficiency can be crucial to the design's play value. If it doesn't have an essential amount of self-sufficiency that it beneficial to it, then its play options will be too limited for its own good. Not providing this fundamental level of self-sufficiency can cripple a design's playability this way—just as doing too much can make it appear vulgar and gaudy (or actually unfair/unfun).
Typically, you want to do one thing and do it well. And when you are doing more than this, you want to give a restriction for each permission.
That is the best way to sum of the technique.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn (not, "the Primal Dawn"?)
This guy only has 4 power? They mine as well just made it an 8/8 with doublstrike for that cost (or just upped it to 10). It should have been on par with the Eldrazi. Moreso than support, many designs need to reprised entirely.
It is certain that some effects have more domain and influence on the game, and thus should not be left out of any color because it throws the entire balance of power off. If I was to assign a value of influence to various effects in the game, it's obvious that removal and creature aren't going to have the same value. Because the post-ex-facto dynamic of removal makes it more precedent. One giveth, but then one taketh away. And thus, the after-the-fact-of effect becomes the precedent everlasting one. More domain (time and space)—thus more value of influence. Even if they did have the same values (as board advantage—one for one), when the totals all add up, one color having both, and the other only having one, is going to set one color out of balance with the others (its influence total is higher).
Card drawing (card advantage) should be a much easier concept to understand. The flow of the cards a core-fundamental of the game. A player who is able to resource more cards is naturally going to have the advantage in a vacuum (more domain over time and space). The ideal isn't to open unlimited potential for resourcing cards, but wants to gracefully limit it (balance it). And would want to do this by the same means that Pokemon Trading Card Game has: Put an emphasis on providing outlets for all types of basic card advantage capabilities. You have straight draw (cards draw off the top). You have wheel effects (shuffle and re-draw). You have direct retrieval (direct access to a specific card). Each of these outlets have their own differing value of influence on how they effect the flow of the cards, and the overall card advantage potential they provide; based on how their dynamics work in strategic means (domain over space and time—circumvention over the probability factor). Let me explain that last one in a bit greater detail. Some cards (such as direct retrieval) enable you circumvent probability, thus having a great value of influence (domain over time and space) in a vacuum. This is checked against the Entropy Factor—overall value of your needs (domain over space and time).
In general, the entropy of ones needs exceeds a single card, and so the measure of domain (over space and time) needed to be sufficient for success can't be met if the only card advantage outlet provided is direct retrieval. One will have to source the other needs faced directly against probability. And typically, this is where additional card advantage outlets help to close the gap. As they provide sizable measures influence, to help capture the Entropy Factor, despite being faced directly against probability.
The strategic dynamics of these card advantage outlets (and total value of influence they have collectively) also change based on the combination sequence in which they are used together.
MTG has legendarily provided these effects. There's only so much space in card game development to work with. However, they have also legendarily failed to put the emphasis on, and consistently provide, the volume (combination of outlets) which can produce sufficient capabilities equally across all colors.
Here's a great example in a deck I made awhile back in 2008, which plays incredibly well due to an anomaly in development which enables it to play out like a PTCG deck. I was able to secure a high percentile clench between the combination of Joiner Adept and Prismatic Omen. While Treefolk Harbinger provided extensions of Doran the Siege Tower (further securing high percentile clenches for important content); and Harmonize then enabling high influence value to capture entropy with-and in addition to that.
3 Joiner Adept
3 Sheltering Ancient
3 Dauntless Dourbark
4 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
1 Might of Alara
3 Wandering Stream
4 Gaea's Might
4 Harmonize
4 Tribal Flames
It could probably use Dungrove Elder these days. And obviously, I could have updated the land base with something like this below. But after playing it out a few times, it didn't even seem necessary. Also, Verdant Catacombs didn't exist back then. I would have had to use Wooded Foothills instead with Windswept Heath. I could have probably even used Grasslands or Mountain Valley—it played out so well.
2 Windswept Heath
4 Dryad Arbor
4 Murmuring Bosk
4 Verdant Catacombs
And I guess other techs could be made, including swaping out Joiner Adept for Birds of Paradise, and skimming down Wandering Stream and Harmonize for Green Sun's Zenith. I would probably just run 3 Doran at that point and 4 Birds. You would definitely need to run the lands above though with this configuration. I would also be tempted to tech 1 Indomitable Ancients I think.
Kunoros was my first draft pick. And holy I Found The F is that card an abomination of a design. It wants to be waaay too self-sufficient, and is loaded with all kinds of stuff that other content should have been relied on to grant it. Really desperate and power-hungry. I think just vigilance would have been great. I would have maybe contemplated protection from enchantments. In the set, it serves as a double punisher, making it more of an immovable/unstoppable object that it seems to desire to be; while creating a unique restriction for the cost:power-level ratio. Although there are claims that this AI is really good, I think it has some kinks in it, just based on the fact that I was passed a Field of Ruin twice, and in a real draft environment I honestly don't believe that would have made its way to me through three people. Maybe just a hopeful result, but this is it none-the-less.
Creatures 15
1 Pious Wayfarer
1 Transcendent Envoy
1 Taranika, Akroan Veteran
1 Thaumaturge's Familiar
1 Sunmane Pegasus
1 Daybreak Chimera
2 Nyxborn Courser
3 Glory Bearers
4 Leonin of the Lost Pride
Spells 7
1 Phalanx Tactics
1 Revoke Existence
1 Idyllic Tutor
4 Karametra's Blessing
Enchantments 4
1 Sentinel's Eyes
1 Indomitable Will
1 The Birth of Meletis
1 Banishing Light
Artifacts 1
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
Lands 13
1 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Field of Ruin
10 Plains
The deck here is like God Bless the USA—or F**K YEAH AMERICA!
Enchantment
At the end of the third turn after Ancestral Legacy entered the battlefield, sacrifice it.
If Ancestral Legacy is destroyed by a source you control, draw three cards. Otherwise, when Ancestral Legacy leaves the battlefield, draw a card then discard two cards.
This design concept took inspiration from the spiders in classic Centipede. You essentially have a small time-frame to destroy the enchantment for the bonus—or then you possibly get an effect that has a moderate drawback (this is not definite). In this case, you have three turns to destroy the Legacy and draw three cards. It uses a time-lapse to balance the power-curve. This could become a new template medium to channel Power 9-esque Alpha effects. I didn't originally think to do this as a Saga, but it just seemed like the easiest way to get the concept down without having to deal with questionably irrelevant keywords (Fading—Vanishing); or unnecessary complications with counters. I don't like the redundancy of the text in the form of a Saga, so am thinking of another way to accomplish this in a neater, more direct package.
He wasn't a very malleable or manipulable character. Immovable. Stern—stoic. You realize this bend on the colors breaks his character entirely?
The effects aren't very functional either. Typically, you want to do one thing and do it very well. This guy is all over the place. Doing a lot of different things that is going to detract from interactivity, in the sense that you are relying on a single resource to do the job that is naturally desired by many (or a few key) resources instead, to breed interactivity in the game. This interactivity is what fuels the primary fun factor of the game. It's a team effort. You don't want one card hogging the ball like this. It's even a bad example of a Timmy card, in that its hogging up interactivity, and not just being a standalone powerhouse. You really just want to do one of these things, then transverse the abilities (indestructible and bushido) into his own character, so that he can hold his own as an offensive/defensive resource.
Sacrificing spirits isn't likely going to be a very hopeful endeavor either, as they're not likely to be as prominently available as one would need them to be. You'll be lucky to have maybe one you can spare, and then you're probably just be using the ability to save him, so you mine as well just give him indestructible and not bother going out of way like this. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails has a pretty similar effect, only less demanding, and still wasn't as self-sufficient as it needed to be to see any alpha potential. Costs like this are simply too demanding.
I notice how you're trying to blend the co-existence line between spirits and humans, but actually trying to build a deck with a sufficient number of both is a disaster waiting to happen. Commander if you're lucky, but there's still tons of room for improvement/optimization. For spirits, you'll want to use one drops or two drops, rendering affinity useless. It'd be better off the other way around, giving humans affinity for spirits (which makes more sense as well). Then you could bridge around other supportive core-essential content (such as removal) which is designed to create spirits in addition to their primary functions.
I really liked affinity too, but it's awkward for me to see it outside of Mirrodin (or Mirrodin styled cards). Just feels out of place. Kamigawa had offering, which was introvertly similar to champion in Lorwyn. I don't really feel either of those are a better replacement for affinity, but why not just work a custom ability instead?
"Non-Spirit creature spells and activated abilities of non-Spirit creatures cost 1 less to cast for each Spirit you control".
It's more dynamic and unique, and more of does a single thing and does it well.
He probably really just wants to be able to summon a spirit, along the lines of Living Wish.
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures you control and put it onto the battlefield."
or even
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield and put it onto the battlefield."
Now you're really getting dynamic and self-sufficient, and freeing up all that resource dependency so that you can freely use Spirit intuitive content as I mentioned above (removal, disruption, etc.) to keep stride with the game pace (flow of the cards, hand advantage, board advantage).
It should be a transforming card? I wonder if they would use that in the next Kamigawa. I think it fits a lot of youkai concepts very well.
They are enveloping or unfolding characture.
Misty Island: I like this. It's a very neat concept. How do you envision this to work though? Can you still only play one land a turn—even during an opponent's turn? I don't think you intent for it to work that way. And with this concept, you're essentially looking for a way to sneak out Akroma. In any case, I think it's a really neat ramp. But it certainly isn't as functional as a land wants to be, and a deck strategy doesn't want to go out on a limb trying to do this, for something that aims to be accomplished by more proficient means. Such as ones external from key resources (such as lands)—or by supplementary means which are more expendable than lands are. This is why cards like Hickory Woodlot haven't thrived in competitive play. Your concept might be more dynamic and interactive, but it's not even as high-functioning as the example given. It's still a great design though! And certainly has lots of interesting functionality. Might I suggest shuffling it back into the library instead of sacrificing it. The operating function is very graceful and aesthetic—it doesn't want to be so short-lived. That really kills the appeal. You don't want that for this. This is a gem, centerpiece design for its dynamic nature and interactivity. You want to preserve as much of its appeal as possible. And that's why I suggest recycling it instead of ditching it. For the light touch it provides, the power-level is just fine and perfectly balanced as it is. I think the first ability wants to be worded like: "You may play Misty Island during an opponent's turn and at anytime you could cast an instant."
Prairie: This is basically just reprinting dual lands repackaged. It's just as powerful as any dual land (but has no boundaries to it). You're basically back from scratch here, so I don't really have much I can add about it. It's way too open to interpretation. One thing I can tell you though, is that lands (and especially dual lands) do not want to enter the battlefield tapped. They want literally any kind of condition that helps them to evade this, and certainly do not want conditions, then have to enter the battlefield tapped anyways. That's just...too low-functioning...and lands can't afford to be so autistic. They want to be fresh and ready to go. It's a hot date—let's get this show on the road!
Drying River: Another very neat concept. There's not particularly wrong with it at all. I really enjoy the concept in the way it paints the landscape scenario as it does. You should note though, that although this functions just fine, it's not as proficient as a land wants to be. So much so—that it could be expected to fall into the obscurities of other uncommon level dual lands—or even dollar bin full spectrum lands. My biggest concern is if you actually realize that these may never really do what you need them to do. The time-lapse here is so short—and also aggressive. A sequence of aspects that don't correlate well to mana fixing. The instance can be short-lived (one time)—but it can't afford to be rushed. You need mana fixing utilities to be able to remain on standby until they're needed. With that said, operating function of Sagas doesn't correspond well for mana fixing. And actually doesn't correspond well to lands in general. Lands aren't very expendable resources. It's an incredibly crippling cost to pay, and only cards that offer ridiculous levels power can support them. It would be really interesting to see a take on fetch lands I think. That would be a much better way to keep the game pace in good measure.
Draw-land: Oh wow—this is terrifying. Not sure how competitive you would expect this to be, but one thing you really never want to do is give your opponent any card advantage. This land would be really out of the question for me if I was looking to build a deck. And I would feel really bad going up against someone so strategically inept to try using it. Not really much to add about it. It's pretty blanche and unimaginative. Consider thinking up something more interactive. You obviously have the potential for that. This is a wasted opportunity on a chase rare. And not something you would want your name signed to as the creator. People would say you have no talent at all.
Hand-land: The drawback for this one certainly isn't enough to warrant the mana fixing. If I did this, I would probably consider no less than 3 cards (and up to 5 cards even) for the restriction. It has to be something that instantly feels fair because it creates an instantly identifiable challenge. Having to work off two cards can be pretty tough. Although it can be circumvented by the likes of other cards, that actually doesn't matter, since that starts getting into multiple resource dependencies. It's no different from playing a distant Fertile Ground then. On that note, it's kind of out of the way to be intensely competitive. Yet still much more intriguing than the draw-land.