@TenebrisNemo: you have a card called claw of septhis. I would love some more backstory and this septhis and maybe a card of them if you have the time.
@LHunter - Very well. Then I should mention that the "gaze into the Abyss" mechanic was inspired by a world called Avelaide, where Tournament of Champions has been set: A competition of character creation, card design, and story writing. @Jonteman93 is the designer of the Tournament's setting, and I created this mechanic to connect the (mostly villainous) cards to the story in a fun way.
"Avelaide is a world with dragons, beasts, kingdoms, knights, wizards and godlike guides (caretakers), but there is also abyssal monsters and a godlike destroyer covered in mystery - Septhis, who resides within the Abyss itself.
The Abyss is a realm of endless depth, locked away behind a gate to the afterlife and guarded by a godlike caretaker of death. But there are supposedly other entrances into the endless darkness of the Abyss.
Souls which are sent to the Abyss are believed to be doomed for an eternal torment. As they harmed others in life, they will suffer in the Abyss, where time does not heal wounds or ease the suffering of hatred. If anything, the emotions of those trapped in the Abyss are magnified over the ages. Neither living nor dead, these souls sometimes overflow and tear a rift to the world of mortals. Sometimes these tears are caused by external forces.
Souls enter the world through these rifts as frenzied dark creatures. If the rift is opened by an external force, these souls might turn up as undead: Skeletons, zombies, and spirits.
But sometimes the rifts are caused by the Abyss itself, and then souls that have absorbed an enormous amount of the Abyss's energy escape. These decades - if not centuries - old souls have become horrifying monsters that have shed all resemblance to any living thing on Avelaide.
These monsters are sometimes powerful enough to decay the land and corrupt creatures around them with mere presence alone. There are some groups and armies around the world whose sole purpose is to seek out rifts of the Abyss, heal them, and slay any monsters that have escaped."
Almost nothing is known of Septhis (so I believe creating a card representing it would be trivial), but it's believed that it was previously one of the oldest Gods of the plane with a different name. Thousands of years ago he tried to harness the power of the Abyss, but instead was swallowed by its vast darkness, never to be seen again, and unleashed its corruptive sea to the world of Avelaide. As the centuries went on, this God has become Septhis, one that will someday break open the gate of afterlife and drown the world in eternal darkness.
@TenebrisNemo: it’s not that serious. I appreciate it, but how long did that take you? Any idea where the abyss is on the map of Avelaide? Or is it not physical? Sorry if I’m annoying. I find it very interesting. @ManInMaroon_948: do you wear maroon very often?
The Abyss isn't a single location on the map, but its rifts can appear (and disappear) anywhere in the world, usually on its own to cursed places or where many creatures have perished, still bearing grudges (or via summoning, but that is a rare case). These rifts act as gateways to the Abyss. Think of it as another realm, locked in a dimension once known as the "afterlife" to the creatures of Avelaide.
Wow, this is all some super intriguing worldbuilding @TenebrisNemo! As someone who enjoys trying to design storylines and settings in Magic, its been very interesting to read about the world of Tournament of Champions and Avelaide!
@12SidedGuy - Thank you, but the true worldbuilder is @Jonteman93, as he was the one who wrote the setting for the Tournament. My custom mechanic is merely inspired by that setting.
@TenebrisNemo: Typing all of that. That had to have taken you a while.
Everyone: The solar flare is scheduled to last for 5 more days. Intergalactic data roaming will be bad and I won’t be able to judge the tournament. It could take 6 or 7 days, it could take 3 or 4. I’ll judge this thing as soon as possible. @12SidedGuy: It seems you would not like to join, as you have not asked, but just telling you that the spots are full. You could join in another, later version of this, though.
@ManInMaroon_948: Is Aurelia chopping off a goblins nose in your instant?
@LHunter this looks super fun but I also noticed you mentioning that the spots were full. If you do end up hosting another similar tournament, I'd love to join!
@12SidedGuy: I’m glad you want to join. If this goes well, there will probably be another. My thoughts on your card: The transpose is a little expensive, but it could be used to pull off commander damage, blow an annoying creature sky-high, or draw cards and get out of tough situations. Overall, I like that it isn’t too overpowered, just situational. If anyone is wondering why they didn’t get my thoughts on their cards, it’s because I woke up early, so I had an extra 20 minutes on this day. I would’ve gladly given my thoughts on your cards if I had extra time/good data on other days.
Thanks for your feedback @LHunter. The reason for the higher transpose cost for Necromonger is because I was basing the cost on two cards, Twisted Justice and Disciple of Freyalise, which both cost 6. Twisted Justice gives you a 1-for-1 as far as spending a card to get rid of an opponent's creature, and then it provides mass card draw based on the size of the sacrificed creature. Disciple of Freyalise lets you convert another one of your creatures into cards and is itself a 3/3 body.
Without transposing, Necromonger's ETB trigger is essentially Bone Splinters + Life's Legacy, as long as your chosen creature is comparable in size to your opponent's. However, the transposed effect lets you pick the guaranteed kill, which is way better than an Edict and gets around things like indestructible. It's also not dependent on anything else you control. For a creature that has 4 or less power, it's a straight destroy and mass card draw, because Necromonger has enough toughness to absorb the power boost. Under the right conditions, you might even be able to give the pump to a creature that can live and swing with it that turn, so there's no downside at all. On top of that, unlike Twisted Justice, Necromonger remains on the board as a 3/5 body that can be "blinked" with many of black's "undying" effects like Undying Evil, Not Dead After All, and Supernatural Stamina to give you its regular ETB trigger again. A transpose cost of 4BBR might be defensible for all of that, but it would be borderline at best. (There's also the fact that both ways of playing Necromonger are available to you, and cards with versatility tend to have a premium on them compared to more narrow cards.)
Thank god you mentioned bone splinters. Great card. I still think that the transpose cost is a more clutch move than anything. It’s expensive, but good, a making it a good game ender or mass card draw move. As I type this, I realized it could be used to blow someone sky high with commander damage.
That sounds interesting. What would be the criteria aside from making legendary creatures? Making non-creature commanders would be interesting as there's growing precedent for that (E.g., Shorikai, Planeswalkers, Backgrounds).
Just commanders, I think. I might set a color or something, maybe a specific cmc, and you guys would compete. It’s still in the works though, so this is definitely not final. making your commander choose a background and making a background to fit your commander would give more points than a lone commander, though. I am very, very open to suggestions, so feel free to criticize and fix and whatever else.
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This is my last submission. Thanks!
@ManInMaroon_948: do you wear maroon very often?
The Abyss isn't a single location on the map, but its rifts can appear (and disappear) anywhere in the world, usually on its own to cursed places or where many creatures have perished, still bearing grudges (or via summoning, but that is a rare case). These rifts act as gateways to the Abyss. Think of it as another realm, locked in a dimension once known as the "afterlife" to the creatures of Avelaide.
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of his work.
@12SidedGuy: It seems you would not like to join, as you have not asked, but just telling you that the spots are full. You could join in another, later version of this, though.
Wow, still a while, @TenebrisNemo.
Two down, one to go.
EDIT: After further thought following discussions with LHunter, I've gone back to my original more power design of Necromonger.
Without transposing, Necromonger's ETB trigger is essentially Bone Splinters + Life's Legacy, as long as your chosen creature is comparable in size to your opponent's. However, the transposed effect lets you pick the guaranteed kill, which is way better than an Edict and gets around things like indestructible. It's also not dependent on anything else you control. For a creature that has 4 or less power, it's a straight destroy and mass card draw, because Necromonger has enough toughness to absorb the power boost. Under the right conditions, you might even be able to give the pump to a creature that can live and swing with it that turn, so there's no downside at all. On top of that, unlike Twisted Justice, Necromonger remains on the board as a 3/5 body that can be "blinked" with many of black's "undying" effects like Undying Evil, Not Dead After All, and Supernatural Stamina to give you its regular ETB trigger again. A transpose cost of 4BBR might be defensible for all of that, but it would be borderline at best. (There's also the fact that both ways of playing Necromonger are available to you, and cards with versatility tend to have a premium on them compared to more narrow cards.)
making your commander choose a background and making a background to fit your commander would give more points than a lone commander, though. I am very, very open to suggestions, so feel free to criticize and fix and whatever else.
Done.