A Tidal Mechanic

Hello my fellow denizens of the MTGCardsmith community forums! Recently I've been working on a custom set of my own, and I am having trouble with a mechanic. Can you all help me out with it?

The basic idea of the mechanic is to create a way for you to experience a 'high tide' state and a 'low tide' state of the game, for my set is an underwater based set. I've tried something similar to Homarid (https://scryfall.com/card/fem/19a/homarid), and even something using transform, although none of it has really worked all that well.

If anyone would like to help, here is what I want the mechanic to do.
- Affect your board state so it experiences a 'low tide' and a 'high tide.'
- Affect your entire board.

Thank you for any help!

Comments

  • edited November 2018
    First, we need a sort of tide counter.

    Then, divide the mechanic into two:
    1. High-tide
    2. Low-tide

    ---

    Example card 1 for a permanent:

    High-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield, set the tide counter to high.)

    As long as it's high-tide, [effects].

    ---

    Example card 2 for an instant or sorcery:

    High-tide (When this spell resolves, set the tide counter to high.)

    As long as it's high-tide, [effects].

    ---

    And the opposite also applies like that.

    So, what do you think then?
  • Ooh, I like that. I think that you always want high tide, although it turns to low tide too. Maybe something like this:

    High-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield, set the tide counter to high. At the beginning of your next upkeep, set the tide counter to low.)

  • @Tigersol
    Okay, yours sounds better anyway.

    The most important thing is the tide counter so that people won't forget that it's either high-tide or low-tide.

    Well, can't really say anymore.
  • edited November 2018
    @Tigersol

    Wait, is low-tide the normal state of the board or?
  • Oh, I just realized that the mechanic doesn't make any sense! : )

    High-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield it becomes high tide until the beginning of your next upkeep.)
  • edited November 2018
    @Tigersol

    How about:

    High-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield, set the tide counter to high. At the beginning of your next upkeep, set the tide counter to normal.)

    And

    Low-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield, set the tide counter to low. At the beginning of your next upkeep, set the tide counter to normal.)

    So there are three states of the tides right now: high, low, and normal. Normal tide represents the default state of the board.

    What do you think then?
  • So an example would be:

    Big Bad Demon 2BB
    Flying
    Low-tide (When this [permanent] enters the battlefield, set the tide counter to low. At the beginning of your next upkeep, set the tide counter to normal.)
    Whenever it becomes low tide, sacrifice a creature.
    6/5

  • Or maybe low tide gives negative effects to your opponent and high tide gives positive effects to you.
  • You could do it like Bounty of the Luxa where it sets it based on a counter. That's more versatile since you can use the counter for other things. It can be two good effects or one great one bad.

    http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=426898
  • edited November 2018
    @fiskerton No, we're currently tweaking a sort of global effect, not that kind of counters-on-a-shtick effect.
  • edited November 2018
    @Tigersol

    Like what? Your lands give extra mana during high tide?

    Hmm, that seems to be familiar to a certain card...
  • edited November 2018
    I had an idea while I was trying to go to sleep last night. I'll send an image soon.
  • edited November 2018
    @Tigersol Seems very wordy, don't you think?

    The real question is: Who would remember that kind of mechanic?

    There's a reason why mechanics are to be kept as simple as possible, you know.
  • Yeah, that was my largest worry when making that.
  • Nocturnia Block did a day/night thing...

    New Mechanics:
    -Day and Night: Magic games start out during the day, and then 2 turns after that it changes to night. Whenever it changes to day, it changes to night 2 turns after. Whenever it changes to night, it changes to day 2 turns after.

    Here is the link
    http://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/830/welcome-to-nocturnia/p1

    You could do something similar but instead of day and night, you do High Tide/Mid Tide/Low Tide or just Hi/Lo
  • Another option is to do something like the eclipse mechanic.
  • edited November 2018
    I think not doing a counter of some sort will just cause memory issues, especially if it's not every turn. If it has to be global, what about this idea:

    -The set will have a Tide card (similar to the Monarch card) that just stays on the board. It has two sides: High Tide and Low Tide
    -Cards will have the mechanic "change the tide" as a triggered ability, which flips the Tide card. There shouldn't be a mechanic that just sets it, but only changes it. This way all players can take advantage of it. This could be some thing like maybe one player has a bomb that relies on high tide, so the opponent can side in "hate" cards that can continuously flip the tide to low.
    -Cards will have good and bad stuff depending on the tide.
  • edited November 2018
    @Tomigon created a tidal mechanic that seems pretty sweet:
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/merfolk-waverider

    Tidal N (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a tide counter from this creature. If you can't, put N tide counters on it.)
  • edited November 2018
    @Faiths_Guide That's just simply incorrect. It is not about counters on a stick.
  • edited November 2018
    @Tigersol
    I was rereading what your goal was (I just provided the previous mechanic with the same name) and I think you could do a card like "The city's blessing" or "Monarch" with @Tomigon's tidal mechanic stapled to it. Determine how many turns you want between high and low tides and you're good to go!
  • So I talked to some of my friends and they came up with this.

    Low Tide (At the beginning of your upkeep put a tide counter on this creature. Then, if there are two or more tide counters on this creature, transform it and all other permanents you control with low tide.)

    High Tide (At the beginning of your upkeep put a tide counter on this creature. Then, if there are two or more tide counters on this creature, transform it and all other permanents you control with high tide.)
  • @Tigersol What about the instants and sorceries?
  • I think I can make instants and sorceries that add counters or say “As long as you control a creature with High Tide, [effect].”
  • Gotta say, I like @fiskerton's idea with cards entering and then changing the tide, but it's there all the time.
This discussion has been closed.