Returning a land to your hand or discarding a card are both such a huge disadvantage that I think it would make the land unplayable. Paying 1 is probably still too far on the powerful side.
I kind of feel that dual lands are kind of like the storm mechanic in that it's going to be either too strong or too weak to be interesting.
I think one of the main problems is that the margin that differentiates lands is very thin because they all have the same general function and it is easy to compare them apples-to-apples and objectively decide that one is better than another.
Why not simply let YOU keep the result? Plenty of cards with death triggers are flavored as scavenging, or using their parts afterwards for other uses - why not have it be the same with these?
Flavorfully because "to the victor go the spoils" and mechanically because the whole point is to use it as an excuse to undercost big splashy dinosaurs.
Tannerax, the Last King 3RG
Legendary Creature -- Dinosaur Lord MR
Trample
When ~ ETB, destroy all artifacts and enchantments.
Useful
8/8 While I still live, we live by the law of the Jungle.
-----------------------------------------------
Skull Totem
Artifact
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 for each attacking creature.
This way you have a built-in way for the tribe's lord/curve topper to wipe out all the incremental advantage gained from killing all your big dumb beaters. Plus, I really like the flavor of the dinosaur king destroying all the accoutrements of "civilization"
So that helps balance it for constructed, but what about limited? In limited, there is less removal, so that isn't that much of a concern. Red and Green have a lot of fight-based removal, white does mostly exile, blue does bounce, black is... weird (it bears mentioning that there is also a slight "numerology" subtheme to represent superstitions of ancient human cultures believing in lucky/unlucky numbers):
Curse of the Necromage 1B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
If target creature has exactly four toughness, it gets -4/-4 until end of turn instead. “Two is weak, one is weaker. Four is death, three is meeker.” — Necromage Proverb
(this guy is like Big Game Hunter. Note the continuation of the "use what you kill" theme)
Master Hunter 1BB
Creature -- Human Warrior
When Master Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target creature with power 4 or greater. If it dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Master Hunter.
1/1
(again playing into the superstition theme)
Solar Eclipse 4BB
Each player sacrifices all creatures. The gods have forsaken us.
(Was playing around with another superstition themed mechanic)
Impending Doom 1B
Sorcery
Destroy target tapped creature.
Omen — W, Reveal Impending Doom from your hand: Tap target creature. (Activate this ability only when you draw this card.)
(There's also an uncommon cycle of overcosted creatures that share an ETB effect with similarly named iconic spells from magic. If you're curious the others are Master of Plowshares, Ancestral Spirit, Lightning Bug, and... haven't thought of a good green one yet. Probably "Giant"-something.)
Terrorbird 4B
Creature -- Bird U
When Terrorbird enters the battlefield, destroy target nonblack, nonartifact creature. It can’t be regenerated.
3/3
So there's NOTHING nearly as efficient as murder (although master hunter is VERY good -- might up it to power 5 or greater to make it more situational)
I like the mechanical interaction that Nightmarish Possession has with itself in that the totem armor means that the creature (usually) won't be killing itself as a result of the cost of the enchantment. However, I don't think it really works flavorfully. Isn't the goal of a demon to torment the host and then kill it when it has done its thing? Nightmarish Possession kills itself.
Torture Chamber feels mechanically very red to me and flavorfully very black, and you have it as an artifact. Not really sure what to do about this one.
The name of Deathknight Champion feels more black than black/white. Maybe call it "Dusk Knight" (the transition between light and dark) and give it Lifelink and Deathtouch instead of first strike and deathtouch? It would still be powerful by modern standards for a 2-drop without being overwhelmingly so for draft.
I'm making a prehistoric themed set and new a long time ago that I wanted to include lots of dinosaurs. Unfortunately there are a couple of conflicting problems with this:
1.) Dinosaurs want to be big and splashy (and expensive!)
2.) Having expensive cards a focus of your set is not a good idea, because competitive players will run you over with faster decks
So then I thought what happens if I make dinosaurs big, undercosted, and awesome, but balance them by the fact that your opponent gets something cool when he manages to bring one down? This fits into the prehistoric theme of using dinosaur parts to survive.
And so the keyword "Useful" was born with extremely awkward rules wording:
(When ~ dies, return it to the battlefield transformed under the control of the player that killed it.)
Where "killed" roughly equates to "the controller of the effect that caused ~ to go to the graveyard".
I really like the flavor of this for my set, but what do you think? Is it too much of a stretch mechanically? Is there anything that can be done to preserve the general idea, but make it more mechanically sound?
Here are some example cards (tried to focus on commons since this would be hardest to get to work at common, but I think these work. For what it's worth, the set has a minor primitive weaponry and warfare theme, including a guy that can make equipment tokens):
Sabre-Tooth Tiger2R
Creature -- Dinosaur Cat C
Useful
4/3
-----------------------------
Bone Dagger
Artifact -- Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+0.
Equip 1
(this is Bone Saw)
T-Rex 3RG
Creature -- Dinosaur Lord R
Trample
Dinosaurs you control get +1/+1
Useful
8/8
---------------------------------
Scary Skull Totem
Artifact
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 1 for each attacking creature.
Stegasaurus 3W
Creature -- Dinosaur C
Useful
2/6
---------------------------------
Bone Shield
Artifact -- Equipment
Equipped Creature gets +0/+3.
Equip 3
(this is Kite Shield)
If you need to ask, you probably should tone it down a bit... Anyway, after ...erm.... doing the business with a lady friend, I could literally roll over and fall asleep for a full 8 hrs. I know that happens, but from what I've heard and how I personally feel, you're actually invigorated from the act later.
Diet is likely your issue. Try cutting down grains and meat and upping your fresh fruit and vegetables, raw or cooked. Also, see if you're hiding your sleep deficit by things like coffee, caffeinated tea, or sugar. I found that this was my biggest problem when it came to energy levels. I started drinking half-caffeine coffee in the morning (since I usually have 2 cups, this makes it like I only had one!) and decaf after that in the day. Sugar was never an issue for me because I'm too health conscious to eat much sugar and I read labels like a mofo, so I'm constantly aware of my sugar intake.
On a similar note, caffeine takes 24-36 hours to fully metabolize, so I started abstaining from coffee after my one cup Friday morning until Monday morning. That will make it so that if I have any sleep deficit from the week, I will be really tired and be able to sleep extra to compensate. It has the added benefit that it seems to reset my tolerance so that one small cup of coffee in the morning is enough to keep me going all day.
Because it has an intervening if clause, it checks on both the trigger and resolution of the ability.
If it said "Whenever a creature with power greater than ~ ETB under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on ~" then you would indeed get two counters, because there is no intervening if clause, and as such the condition is only checked upon triggering.
One of the local stores will let you subscribe to things. Whenever something new comes out, he will just order it for you and give you a nice discount.
This works a lot better for LCGs than CCGs, but you can still tell him to order you a box of every set or something.
It is customary to send a thank you letter to all the people you interview with. If you want to inquire about the status of your application, do so only after you have started the actual interview process. If you contact them before they even look at your resume, they won't know who you are.
I run it in my Animar and Edric decks. I look at it as a slightly more expensive beat stick version of Duplicant.
As for the OP, I don't think this makes for a very good cycle. It's possible that wizards does have a 5CC/7cmc "famous spell" super mega cycle in the core sets that just hasnt finished yet. But I feel like you're kind of stretching to try to complete the cycle prematurely.
I think my Teysa deck is 70-80% foiled, and my Radha deck is 99% foiled (only missing sword of feast and famine -- was super upset when prime time got banned!), and my edric deck is about 50% foiled.
My decks tend to be more on the casual side, though. So the foils are pretty cheap for the most part. The SoFaF is just critical to Radha's theme of making lots of extra combat steps, otherwise it wouldn't even be in the deck
Pointless maybe, but it is also baseless. Ty for your opinion. And while we havent seen reprints, we have seen a fair amount of cards themed tword older ones.
Personal hope: We get a new,more powerful version.
The thing is, not only is this speculation baseless, but there is actually significant evidence to the contrary.
I kind of feel that dual lands are kind of like the storm mechanic in that it's going to be either too strong or too weak to be interesting.
I think one of the main problems is that the margin that differentiates lands is very thin because they all have the same general function and it is easy to compare them apples-to-apples and objectively decide that one is better than another.
Flavorfully because "to the victor go the spoils" and mechanically because the whole point is to use it as an excuse to undercost big splashy dinosaurs.
Tannerax, the Last King 3RG
Legendary Creature -- Dinosaur Lord MR
Trample
When ~ ETB, destroy all artifacts and enchantments.
Useful
8/8
While I still live, we live by the law of the Jungle.
-----------------------------------------------
Skull Totem
Artifact
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 for each attacking creature.
This way you have a built-in way for the tribe's lord/curve topper to wipe out all the incremental advantage gained from killing all your big dumb beaters. Plus, I really like the flavor of the dinosaur king destroying all the accoutrements of "civilization"
So that helps balance it for constructed, but what about limited? In limited, there is less removal, so that isn't that much of a concern. Red and Green have a lot of fight-based removal, white does mostly exile, blue does bounce, black is... weird (it bears mentioning that there is also a slight "numerology" subtheme to represent superstitions of ancient human cultures believing in lucky/unlucky numbers):
Curse of the Necromage 1B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
If target creature has exactly four toughness, it gets -4/-4 until end of turn instead.
“Two is weak, one is weaker. Four is death, three is meeker.” — Necromage Proverb
(this guy is like Big Game Hunter. Note the continuation of the "use what you kill" theme)
Master Hunter 1BB
Creature -- Human Warrior
When Master Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target creature with power 4 or greater. If it dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Master Hunter.
1/1
(again playing into the superstition theme)
Solar Eclipse 4BB
Each player sacrifices all creatures.
The gods have forsaken us.
(Was playing around with another superstition themed mechanic)
Impending Doom 1B
Sorcery
Destroy target tapped creature.
Omen — W, Reveal Impending Doom from your hand: Tap target creature. (Activate this ability only when you draw this card.)
(There's also an uncommon cycle of overcosted creatures that share an ETB effect with similarly named iconic spells from magic. If you're curious the others are Master of Plowshares, Ancestral Spirit, Lightning Bug, and... haven't thought of a good green one yet. Probably "Giant"-something.)
Terrorbird 4B
Creature -- Bird U
When Terrorbird enters the battlefield, destroy target nonblack, nonartifact creature. It can’t be regenerated.
3/3
So there's NOTHING nearly as efficient as murder (although master hunter is VERY good -- might up it to power 5 or greater to make it more situational)
Torture Chamber feels mechanically very red to me and flavorfully very black, and you have it as an artifact. Not really sure what to do about this one.
The name of Deathknight Champion feels more black than black/white. Maybe call it "Dusk Knight" (the transition between light and dark) and give it Lifelink and Deathtouch instead of first strike and deathtouch? It would still be powerful by modern standards for a 2-drop without being overwhelmingly so for draft.
1.) Dinosaurs want to be big and splashy (and expensive!)
2.) Having expensive cards a focus of your set is not a good idea, because competitive players will run you over with faster decks
So then I thought what happens if I make dinosaurs big, undercosted, and awesome, but balance them by the fact that your opponent gets something cool when he manages to bring one down? This fits into the prehistoric theme of using dinosaur parts to survive.
And so the keyword "Useful" was born with extremely awkward rules wording:
(When ~ dies, return it to the battlefield transformed under the control of the player that killed it.)
Where "killed" roughly equates to "the controller of the effect that caused ~ to go to the graveyard".
I really like the flavor of this for my set, but what do you think? Is it too much of a stretch mechanically? Is there anything that can be done to preserve the general idea, but make it more mechanically sound?
Here are some example cards (tried to focus on commons since this would be hardest to get to work at common, but I think these work. For what it's worth, the set has a minor primitive weaponry and warfare theme, including a guy that can make equipment tokens):
Sabre-Tooth Tiger2R
Creature -- Dinosaur Cat C
Useful
4/3
-----------------------------
Bone Dagger
Artifact -- Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+0.
Equip 1
(this is Bone Saw)
T-Rex 3RG
Creature -- Dinosaur Lord R
Trample
Dinosaurs you control get +1/+1
Useful
8/8
---------------------------------
Scary Skull Totem
Artifact
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 1 for each attacking creature.
Stegasaurus 3W
Creature -- Dinosaur C
Useful
2/6
---------------------------------
Bone Shield
Artifact -- Equipment
Equipped Creature gets +0/+3.
Equip 3
(this is Kite Shield)
On a similar note, caffeine takes 24-36 hours to fully metabolize, so I started abstaining from coffee after my one cup Friday morning until Monday morning. That will make it so that if I have any sleep deficit from the week, I will be really tired and be able to sleep extra to compensate. It has the added benefit that it seems to reset my tolerance so that one small cup of coffee in the morning is enough to keep me going all day.
The interaction with undying is a nice bonus, but I've never actually seen an undying creature* played in EDH...
*Mike doesn't count because he doesn't have undying and because you have already lost if he sticks around whether your opponent has this guy or not.
If it said "Whenever a creature with power greater than ~ ETB under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on ~" then you would indeed get two counters, because there is no intervening if clause, and as such the condition is only checked upon triggering.
This works a lot better for LCGs than CCGs, but you can still tell him to order you a box of every set or something.
I run it in my Animar and Edric decks. I look at it as a slightly more expensive beat stick version of Duplicant.
As for the OP, I don't think this makes for a very good cycle. It's possible that wizards does have a 5CC/7cmc "famous spell" super mega cycle in the core sets that just hasnt finished yet. But I feel like you're kind of stretching to try to complete the cycle prematurely.
My decks tend to be more on the casual side, though. So the foils are pretty cheap for the most part. The SoFaF is just critical to Radha's theme of making lots of extra combat steps, otherwise it wouldn't even be in the deck
The thing is, not only is this speculation baseless, but there is actually significant evidence to the contrary.