Wacky Ability Words

Wacky Ability Words

Ability words are words on MTG cards that connect cards with similar mechanics together. These are abilities that do not give specific effects such as lifelink and vigilance (keyword abilities), but rather they group similar abilities together. Examples of these are Undergrowth ("~ enters the battlefield with...for each creature card in your graveyard...") and Constellation ("When ~ or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control...").

Here, I want you to come up with some wacky ideas for ability words! These do not necessarily have to be jokes, but maybe just abilities that can result in interesting plays. If the ability clearly isn't a joke, explain why you think it's wacky!

Rules

- A maximum of 3 entries per person.
- Submit a minimum of 3 cards in a given entry to show how the ability word can be used.
- Make sure the colors reflect the ability, such as Undergrowth appearing only in BG due to interacting with the graveyard in the manner that it does. Of course, some like Constellation can fit all 5 colors because the color depends on what happens when that creature or another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control. Hope I explained that well!
- I would prefer new cards, but if you have a really wacky ability word that you made a while ago and would like to enter it, go ahead! You could always make new cards with it, though :P
- Don't use artwork from real MTG cards—get creative!
- Please mark any card with a silver border and as part of a joke set (Unglued) if needed.
- Proper formatting for the whole card (no words running off the card, use correct grammar, etc.) is a necessity (specifically for the ability italicize it and follow it with a hyphen (-) or two (--) since em dashes (—) don't render on cards.

Scoring

- 5 points for creativity.
- 5 points for the artwork chosen.
- 10 points for functionality (Is it able to interact with the game well? Joke cards can still do this—they just might interact with it in an absurd way!), including choosing appropriate color(s). They don't necessarily have to be "balanced" per se, but just able to interact with the game. Huzzah!
- 10 points for grammar and formatting.
- 10 points for the flavor (Does it feel alive rather than just some card? This includes flavor text, so if you cannot fit any on your card, just include it in your post!). This includes the sheer absurdity of the card, and your ability to get me to laugh will help score here!

30 possible points

Prizes

- 30-34 points: A favourite on the entry cards. #c73
- 35-36 points: A favourite on the entry cards and 1 card of your choice. #ea7
- 37-38 points: A favourite on the entry cards and 2 cards of your choice. #77c
- 39 points: A favourite on the entry cards and 3 cards of your choice. #99c
- 40 points: A favourite on the entry cards, on 4 cards of your choice, and a follow. #da2

Winning Prize

Many cards may end up scoring 30 points, but after the end of the contest, I will select my favourite entry out of those that do, and design a card based around the person who entered that card. If you want to, feel free to drop a little bit about you with your entry so that I can design a card that (hopefully) gives you a good laugh and that fits you!

Example

image image

I didn't feel like making a third card, but y'all get the gist.

Have fun! I'll leave the contest open until 00:00 (12:00 AM) on June 15th, EST.

Comments

  • edited May 2019
    Ability Word: Revelation
    Revelation - Whenever a card is revealed from a player's hand or library, ...

    imageimageimage
  • edited June 2019
    Ability Word: Fizzling

    Fizzling - Whenever you cast [condition], you may counter and exile it, if you do...

    Specific Rulings:
    - Casting a spell and aplying the Fizzling effect would count as a spell casted. Effects and abilities that trigger when a spell is casted will take effect the next time the triggered ability owner has priority.


    Introductory Card:

    image

    Three Examples:

    image image image

    Errata: Necromancer Stroll card returns to its owner hand. This will be edited when I have the Premium status activated.
  • edited June 2019
    If I getit correctly, I can submit three different mechanics each with three examples, right? There's the first one, if the first sentence is true, I'll post more:

    It's an old mechanic of mine, but you said it's ok, so:
    image image image

    It is wacky, because... well, the goal of the game is to attack your opponent and kill them.
  • Let the wackiness ensue!
    image image image image image

    Each player would have their own cache at the beginning of each game.

    It is simply a holding place for a pile of face down cards in exile that you can choose from to replace draws.
  • @sammysammyson The ability Fateful Hour has two words.
  • @SammySammyson There are some that have more than two words! aka Will of the council
  • edited June 2019
    Here's a kinda wacky keyword :

    image image image


    And yes, I know that this is usable in permanents only apparently.
  • Wackiness is my... specialty!

    image image image
    image
  • edited June 2019
    Although it looks simple at first. The idea behind Burgeon was to approach SIMIC in a reverse way. Instead of bringing blue to green, bringing green to blue.

    image image image
  • @Faiths_Guide How did you make the Cache token?
  • edited June 2019
    Mine's not necessarily "wacky," but it is certainly powerful and it can have some crazy effects on the game in the right situations.

    [On Permanents]
    Ceasing – Whenever a card you own is put into exile from anywhere, "effect"
    OR
    [On Non-Permanents]
    Ceasing – If a card you own was put into exile from anywhere this turn, "effect"
    (There will be some exceptions to these rules, of course)

    Here are the cards:

    image image image
  • @ThePhantomJoker yessiree, you've got it! Up to three entries of three different mechanics, with each entry consisting of at least three examples. Three! Three! Three!
  • @Faiths_Guide heya, I really like the cache idea (I think blue would love this mechanic...I mean...guess I'll just cache my whole library and just keep drawing cards of my choosing...), though the challenge is about ability words, and cache, if I'm not mistaken, would be a keyword action. I love it though!
  • Thank ya @pstmdrn and @Red_Tower. Removed that text. Huzzah!
  • edited June 2019
    @sanjaya666 you could potentially use it in instants and sorceries by going a little something like this:

    "Conviction — Until end of turn, if you would draw a card, you may instead skip that draw. When you do..."
  • @SammySammyson Ah, good idea.

    Let's see about that then, hm...
  • My wacky keyword is Timid.

    Examples:
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/woodwatcher-recruit
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/apprentice-sunblade
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/friend-to-the-mighty
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tentative-pupil
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/arvos-champion-of-gods

    Just in case, I'll explain it. The idea is basically that if you don't have any "inspiring" creatures, the creature becomes "scared" and is pretty terrible. The more big creatures you have, the less "timid" the creature is.
  • edited June 2019
    Well, here's my contribution, Memory! (Yes, I have recently relistened the CATS soundtrack)

    imageimageimage

    The flavour text for Necessary Elimination is "Oh, won't these hands e'er be clean?"

    It's probably unbalanced as hell, but it sure is wacky! (I think)

    You see, these spells are exceptionally powerful, but deal more and more damage to you as the game draws on. This was already seen on demon creatures, but I try to bring it into the instant and sorcery game, by having them deal damage to you from beyond the grave!









    Unless you run Ashiok, in which case you just mill yourself and then exile these cards, and get free super-spells! But then, you can't mill yourself forever, and Ashiok isn't immortal, so I think this would require combo-ing, which I think would result in wacky play.
  • edited June 2019
    Second Entry

    Overkill N - Whenever this spell/creature deals N or more excess damage, [action]

    Presentation:
    image

    Three Examples
    imageimageimage
  • edited June 2019

    @pstmdrn's Revelation

    This is an interesting way to boost a deck with a lot of tutoring (most notably ramping) and to damage other decks with that as a big part of their setup (by providing some reason to choose not to cast that turn seven Open the Gates; I mean, you have enough mana already, right?). I also like how they trigger themselves to start off. I'd be interested in seeing you design two more that are black (Revelations of Death?) and white (Revelations of Justice?). Maybe even guild-themed ones that are also two-drops. :D

    Creativity 4
    Artwork 5
    Functionality 9
    Grammar and Formatting 10
    Flavor 8


    Overall 36

    Just need the links to the cards and the link to a card you want me to drop a favourite on :D
  • edited June 2019
    Oh my. I've made a grave mistake. For some reason I thought my scoring was out of 30, but it isn't. Time to revisit that!

    Edit: All better
  • @ElMagici's Fizzling

    This is a mechanic that reminds me of Jump-Start and Flashback, but is distinct from the both of them in its overall effects. I absolutely love Sola, Arcane Law! The grammar on the cards needs a bit of cleaning up, most notably "...exile it, if you do..." should be "...exile it. If you do..."

    Creativity 5
    Artwork 5
    Functionality 9
    Grammar and Formatting 7
    Flavor 8


    Overall 34

    @ElMagici's Overkill

    Ah, trample's second cousin, once removed. Another way to interact with excess damage seems interesting, especially given that it isn't just going through to the original target, but rather does something dependent on the card. As with Fizzling, these cards need some cleanup in the grammar department (for example, Knight of the Red Leaf is worded in a confusing manner, and her ability is oddly specific. I'd imagine it's difficult hard to keep track of, though I may be wrong there).

    Creativity 3
    Artwork 4
    Functionality 8
    Grammar and Formatting 6
    Flavor 7


    Overall 28
  • @ThePhantomJoker's Silence

    This, I think, would fit most in colors that are less aggressive as a form of "defense." Control would be a big fan of it because it could help prolong the game by creating big blockers.

    Creativity 5
    Artwork 5
    Functionality 9
    Grammar and Formatting 9
    Flavor 9


    Overall 37

    Drop me some links to two other cards to favourite :D
  • And that's all for today folks. Loving the submissions, per the usual!
  • @SammySammyson How about these?
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/rise-of-the-duskwood-clan
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/rshakimi-duchess-of-izvara
    Also, did I win? It's quite unclear with no places and all that. Nice challange, though
  • @ThePhantomJoker The contest's still open and running; I just score as it goes on so that I don't have to do a ton all at once! :D
  • This is closing in less than three hours. I'm pretty busy this weekend, so most of the scoring will probably happen starting Monday. <3
  • @ningyounk, @Tomigon, & @SammySammysonand
    An interesting modification to Cache, that would also succeed in pulling its power level down slightly, would be to adjust the replacement thus:

    Cache (To cache a card, exile it face down and shuffle it into your cache. If you would draw one or more cards, you may put a card from your cache into your hand instead.)

    Since it is an optional replacement effect--similar to how Alms Collectorworks--it will give you the choice to replace the instruction to draw one or more cards (two, three, etc.) with the ability to put a card from your cache into your hand. It does add two words to the reminder text though.
This discussion has been closed.