It's too slow on the one end. You can't cast second spells during your turn then wait/reserve for counters on the opponent's. In a creature based theme, this is still not really interactive enough, and will be too slow trying to keep equilibrium with draw/mana/spell casting to get the effect sufficient enough.
It's too accelerated on the other end. It basically ready, "play during your opponent's turn and get two creatures free".
There's no aspect of challenge that this is entirely self-sufficient around control spells that already have way too much domain influence. It's giving you a surplus of something with no expense or cost for it. There's no build up. The interactivity is mute, and doesn't require resources to be expended in any way. This isn't always a bad thing, it can boast vibrancy, but only when the interactivity revolves around other mute things to boost them and make them vibrant.
For example,
whenever a creature enters the battlefield tapped under your control, (bonus effect)
Moon CrabUG Creature — Crab
As long as it's not your turn, Moon Crab gets +5/+5.
: Moon Crab gains hexproof until end of turn. It's no wonder the moon is related to lunacy when it has such effect on so many things.
2/1
It breaks the high tide like a mountainside. I've seen one rip a goyf in half like it was eating an insect—I still haven't got over it.
I really really wanted to make this hybrid. I was also tempted to give it hexproof without an activation cost. I really feel like activated costs like this only want to feign that it's a setback when that's hardly so for what it does (and what it does it for).
You could maybe do that regeneration effect I suggested if the croc entered the battlefield tapped. It begins kinda getting crowded at that point, and I'd still question if it fits the rarity level still.
No...that's bad functionality...and doesn't make sense since it can't be secured that it's fighting in water (where that would make sense). Occasionally, they do get claimed by snakes like big boas and anacondas in the water.
I really wish I could recommend something like,
Untap a basic land you control: Regenerate Bog Predator. Activate this ability only once each turn.
Menace is kinda dull. It's spammed a lot too for cards that probably shouldn't have it, as they're not high tier list.
First thing that comes to mind for me is regenerate. This makes a lot of sense from a flavor standpoint as alligators and crocs are notorious for surviving immense damage and maiming.
That would have great synergy with the fight mechanic, but also might want to employ and alternative activation cost (apart from mana) to help secure its utility on the turn you tap out to drop this.
It's actually not a better reflecting pool because it depends on the permanents, and not the lands, which has an incredible variance to it.
That's a very big up. If you drop a dual land, Reflecting Pool becomes a dual land. If you drop a chromaland, it becomes a chromaland. Given hybrid creatures, I'll say that there's some likeness. However, the number of very solid hybrid creatures low on the mana curve are too slim to matter. And don't provide any coverage across the spectrum of colors to count. The capability to get a five color permanent is near zero. Chroma capability is almost non-existent.
However, it doesn't really need to do that. It does what I think it wants to do most, which is enable you color-heavy capability as you begin to develop on the battlefield with your multicolor permanents.
It does work perfectly. If it was intended to be unlimited it would probably say "any number of ---" or it would say "this turn" to denote the range factor.
When it says, "you may activate the ability of a land or artifact" that a (in the English language) is singular.
Let's not pretend like we don't understand English.
I do think that it's broken with Crew, but I also think that the comprehensive rulings should have stated that a creature must be tapped to activate the ability, and if a creature isn't tapped to activate the ability, then the ability does nothing. Naturally, the rules could easily be amended, but just to say that should have been in the initial concept for securities of the ability and its force majeure. I certainly wouldn't have missed that if I had developed Crew.
Manlands are still balanced, even the suggested, since they are open to removal and turn fast cheap creature removal spells into more prominent, imminent, powerful, slower land removal spells.
I don't understand what you mean when you say it's not fun.
It was intended as a catch for Filterlands—Wooded Bastion—so that they could begin to see more competitive play.
I originally wanted to give this one the "six copies" rule, but given the other lands that it can still fetch, I felt it wasn't a good idea (and probably wasn't necessary anyways).
The Great Unknown just doesn't want you to pay any costs. Sure, it could be just the mana cost, but doesn't need to. Saving an additional life or two, or a discarded card should still be well within the utility here. A person who wants to make a land or artifact that goes out of its way to break this is irresponsible—and error falls on that developer—certainly not me.
The Great Beyond Land
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice The Great Beyond: Search your library for a nonbasic land card with no basic land types and no abilities other than mana abilities and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterwards. It is the visionary's canvas to push the envelope that heaven is a place on earth—but only when all that is impure and untrue is left behind.
It is the visionary's canvas to create their own paradise—but only when all else is shutout and left behind—else it will become their own living hell.
The Great Unknown Land
: Add one mana that shares a color with a permanent you control to your mana pool.
: You may activate the ability of a land or artifact you control that causes a permanent to become a creature without paying any of its costs.
A deck can have six cards named The Great Unknown. It is the imminent reminder never to underestimate that hell exists on earth.
It is the imminent reminder never to underestimate that hell exists within all time and space.
Certainly, there isn't room for all of them in the same deck, even if it can use them.
A more interesting notion is that even with one, how much utility does it offer?
Consider condensing some of the effects down into sort-pairs (alike pairs), so they can be run in splits and offer a range of potential to a single deck.
I think the mana ramps aren't being as creative or interactive as they want to be.
Compare to Frogmite, which was a very cool and exciting card when it came out for its power-for-interactivity factor.
EscapegoatRG Sorcery
Choose three colors. Put three 0/1 Goat creature tokens of the chosen colors with defender and reach onto the battlefield. Black sheeps are popular with swampfolk. Apparently they keep the hags at bay.
After much uproar. Here's the opposite version of All Summons. Tokens can be sacrificed, but at the expense of being unable to attack and having no offensive potential.
The tokens have reach as a flavorful bit that they can be used as bait to intercept (deter) aerialpredators.
You can probably choose the same color three times. No one's going to be sure if it's both or one-or-the-other.
It's too accelerated on the other end. It basically ready, "play during your opponent's turn and get two creatures free".
There's no aspect of challenge that this is entirely self-sufficient around control spells that already have way too much domain influence. It's giving you a surplus of something with no expense or cost for it. There's no build up. The interactivity is mute, and doesn't require resources to be expended in any way. This isn't always a bad thing, it can boast vibrancy, but only when the interactivity revolves around other mute things to boost them and make them vibrant.
For example,
whenever a creature enters the battlefield tapped under your control, (bonus effect)
That's great you think hexproof is good enough.
It's sad between this, regenerate, and untap that it could only be one of them. I thought regenerate and untap were over the top.
Creature — Crab
As long as it's not your turn, Moon Crab gets +5/+5.
: Moon Crab gains hexproof until end of turn.
It's no wonder the moon is related to lunacy when it has such effect on so many things.
2/1
It breaks the high tide like a mountainside. I've seen one rip a goyf in half like it was eating an insect—I still haven't got over it.
I really really wanted to make this hybrid. I was also tempted to give it hexproof without an activation cost. I really feel like activated costs like this only want to feign that it's a setback when that's hardly so for what it does (and what it does it for).
It eats Tarmogoyf and Hexdrinker.
I really wish I could recommend something like,
Untap a basic land you control: Regenerate Bog Predator. Activate this ability only once each turn.
It becomes a gateway for pump extensions.
a classic power-grab ability that does have great utility.
i think everything fits together perfectly.
it could probably deserve to have an extra point of toughness or two.
First thing that comes to mind for me is regenerate. This makes a lot of sense from a flavor standpoint as alligators and crocs are notorious for surviving immense damage and maiming.
That would have great synergy with the fight mechanic, but also might want to employ and alternative activation cost (apart from mana) to help secure its utility on the turn you tap out to drop this.
That's a very big up. If you drop a dual land, Reflecting Pool becomes a dual land. If you drop a chromaland, it becomes a chromaland. Given hybrid creatures, I'll say that there's some likeness. However, the number of very solid hybrid creatures low on the mana curve are too slim to matter. And don't provide any coverage across the spectrum of colors to count. The capability to get a five color permanent is near zero. Chroma capability is almost non-existent.
However, it doesn't really need to do that. It does what I think it wants to do most, which is enable you color-heavy capability as you begin to develop on the battlefield with your multicolor permanents.
It does work perfectly. If it was intended to be unlimited it would probably say "any number of ---" or it would say "this turn" to denote the range factor.
When it says, "you may activate the ability of a land or artifact" that a (in the English language) is singular.
Let's not pretend like we don't understand English.
I do think that it's broken with Crew, but I also think that the comprehensive rulings should have stated that a creature must be tapped to activate the ability, and if a creature isn't tapped to activate the ability, then the ability does nothing. Naturally, the rules could easily be amended, but just to say that should have been in the initial concept for securities of the ability and its force majeure. I certainly wouldn't have missed that if I had developed Crew.
Manlands are still balanced, even the suggested, since they are open to removal and turn fast cheap creature removal spells into more prominent, imminent, powerful, slower land removal spells.
Did anyone mention Reflecting Pool?
It was intended as a catch for Filterlands—Wooded Bastion—so that they could begin to see more competitive play.
I originally wanted to give this one the "six copies" rule, but given the other lands that it can still fetch, I felt it wasn't a good idea (and probably wasn't necessary anyways).
The Great Unknown just doesn't want you to pay any costs. Sure, it could be just the mana cost, but doesn't need to. Saving an additional life or two, or a discarded card should still be well within the utility here. A person who wants to make a land or artifact that goes out of its way to break this is irresponsible—and error falls on that developer—certainly not me.
Land
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice The Great Beyond: Search your library for a nonbasic land card with no basic land types and no abilities other than mana abilities and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterwards.
It is the visionary's canvas to push the envelope that heaven is a place on earth—but only when all that is impure and untrue is left behind.
It is the visionary's canvas to create their own paradise—but only when all else is shutout and left behind—else it will become their own living hell.
The Great Unknown
Land
: Add one mana that shares a color with a permanent you control to your mana pool.
: You may activate the ability of a land or artifact you control that causes a permanent to become a creature without paying any of its costs.
A deck can have six cards named The Great Unknown.
It is the imminent reminder never to underestimate that hell exists on earth.
It is the imminent reminder never to underestimate that hell exists within all time and space.
A more interesting notion is that even with one, how much utility does it offer?
Consider condensing some of the effects down into sort-pairs (alike pairs), so they can be run in splits and offer a range of potential to a single deck.
I think the mana ramps aren't being as creative or interactive as they want to be.
Compare to Frogmite, which was a very cool and exciting card when it came out for its power-for-interactivity factor.
It's not necessarily designed for a narrow set of cards, but as the parallel dimension version of All Summons.
That's certainly not the only interactivity when you consider color protection.
Sorcery
Choose three colors. Put three 0/1 Goat creature tokens of the chosen colors with defender and reach onto the battlefield.
Black sheeps are popular with swampfolk. Apparently they keep the hags at bay.
After much uproar. Here's the opposite version of All Summons. Tokens can be sacrificed, but at the expense of being unable to attack and having no offensive potential.
The tokens have reach as a flavorful bit that they can be used as bait to intercept (deter) aerial predators.
You can probably choose the same color three times. No one's going to be sure if it's both or one-or-the-other.