MTG Salvation

If we use Archfiend of Ifnir and Ruthless Sniper, we'd need some ways of discarding cards that benefit us, like Tormenting Voice or wheels.

Varolz, the Scar-Striped would like to run Seed Guardian, since it dumps a lot of creatures into the graveyard and needs a 4-drop for a smooth Birthing Pod chain. World Breaker might also be nice, allowing Varolz to chain into Terastodon and then retrieve it.

Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer would like to run Weapons Trainer and Captain's Claws, as a way of making more tokens and pumping them. The Claws might also be great in Varolz, since that pumps him and gives him a way to regen.

Omnath, Locus of Rage gets Mina and Denn, Wildborn.

I was looking for a card to plug up the holes in my Varolz EDH's Birthing Pod chain. Seed Guardian is just what I need.

Captain's Claws looks like a nice token generator for aggressive decks. I'm liking this trend of having small equipment with small effects that build up over time, like Sword of the Animist.

I think the Reshaper would be nice in EDH too, if you have a deck with some decent 3-drops. It could also help smooth out a Birthing Pod chain or net you an extra card with Greater Good.

This set seems to be making up for the rather lackluster BFZ.

I kinda want to like Encrypt, but I'd like to know how it plays compared to Flashback. Flashback can be triggered any time you can cast that spell, but Encrypt only occurs if you hit. I wonder how Decipher would work when combined with Encrypt.

Pinpoint Barrage 2R
Instant [C]
Pinpoint Barrage deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Decipher (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)

@Shadowfate: Good point.

What I'd like to hear are thoughts on Escalate. It's intended to facilitate games where people trade spells back and forth while armies of creatures slug it out on the ground. For instance, someone plays a removal spell? That just lets you cast Radiant End in response. Kind of like how attacking first in war causes a response.

My end goal is to create a keyword that works on a similar principle to the "support powers" in strategy games: something that can be re-used after the initial activation. Obviously I can't make a keyword that makes the card usable over and over again, like in an RTS: that breaks the "no repetitive game states" rule.

"You got your Crystal Ball in my Mind Stone!"
"You got your Mind Stone in my Crystal Ball!"

I had a version of Weave that had a "costs less" condition to the stuff it splices. I took it out because it vastly limited the sort of stuff you could splice onto the spell. That could be fixed by making Weave spells cost more than their regular counterparts.

Weave X (You may cast this for its weave cost. If you do, you may exile an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard as this resolves. Add that card’s effects to this spell.)

For a Fantasy-World-War-themed block: a Splice variant that allows you to pay extra and scavenge an instant or sorcery in your graveyard onto the spell.


Suffuse X (X, exile this card from your graveyard: You may add this card’s effects to each instant and/or sorcery spell you cast this turn.)


Escalate X (You may cast this for its escalate cost if a player has cast another spell this turn.)

For the same "Fantasy World War" set Weave was created for. I intend to run either Weave or Escalate and save the other for a future set.

Quote from TurboJustice »

Having Soulstorm exile would definitely help, yes. It still makes that first casting powerful, but it makes it much harder to repeatedly get massive advantage.

Alright, so I've taken your advice and here it is:

Soulstorm X (You may cast this spell for its soulstorm cost. If you do, you may exile any number of cards in your graveyard that shares a color with this spell as it resolves. Copy it for each card exiled this way. You may choose new targets for the copies.)

Quote from PasstheChips »

Storm variants either win the game, or aren't used. I'm sure you can make them balanced in limited, making them play kind of like Delve in Khans limited, but in constructed it's either busted or you're not playing it (for the most part).

As for martyrdom, I can totally see the effect in black. Who else loves death triggers as much as black? As for flavor, it's totally there. You're a dark lord sending your minions to sacrifice themselves for your cause.

That's true, but I think keeping it in RW is a good way to get across the flavor of humanity being pressed so hard that they have to sacrifice just to have a chance at fighting back against the encroaching horrors.

And if that's the case, then it's back to square one for me. Still, I'd rather give Soulstorm a shot.

Quote from BatHickey »

Quote from Xcric »

Whoever designed the red/x legends this time doesn't get it.

I'm pretty sure they get it, but the thing they get is 'you UR players like Niv--here are more variations on cool Niv mizzets'. I think the Goblin guy is so ******* sweet, personally.

Given that they've printed nothing but new staples for every color deck in commander and filled in a lot of gaps that were missing c15 (soul sister commander!) is looking like a 99% win.

The only thing I can think of that the community really wants is a legendery spider/wearwolf and an artifact commander in UR (who may still be coming sheesh)

Also a Boros commander who isn't just "smash face." I love my Jor Kadeen deck but let's face it, Boros needs better stuff.

Still, I like Reliquary Stone, and Arjun has a sweet mane of fire, so it's not a total loss.

Okay, so Soulstorm is a little more broken than I anticipated. How do I make it less broken? I'd hate to have to discard it. If I had it exile cards instead and then copy for each card exiled this way, would it be less broken?

Also, I have my doubts about Corrupt, as it means debuffing your creatures. I think only Johnny and Spike would like that.

Finally, the keywords are in different colors as follows:

Martyrdom-- RW
Soulstorm-- URG
Corrupt-- UB

And then I add Persist/Morbid in WBG.

So I've recently gotten back into making custom cards, and to start off I've made some mechanics that are supposed to reflect a dark fantasy world. Think Dark Souls or Dragon Age.

Martyrdom X (Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it gets +X/+X until end of turn. If you do, sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.)


Soulstorm X (You may cast this for its soulstorm cost. If you do, copy it for each card in your graveyard that shares a color with this card. You may choose new targets for the copies.)


Corrupt (When this creature enters the battlefield/When you cast this spell, you may put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control. Then, if that creature isn’t corrupted, it becomes corrupted.)

Seems like most B/G/X decks would like Meren of Clan Nel Toth. Getting creatures to die in those colors is trivial, and the rewards are worth it.

This is kind of disappointing. I hoped there'd be some artifact support or something like Searing Meditation on a stick. Kalemne is fine, because she adds a good Voltron option besides Tajic, but Anya is... meh.

We've got enough choices for Boros generals that smash face. We don't really need more.