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Late Night Bottom-Up Set!
ALRIGHT, 4 cups of black tea and a day of pondering shall not go in vain, no matter the late hour! *yawns deliciously*
SO. Enemy-colour combinations. They seem pretty great, and they haven't been explored that much. LATE MIDDLE AGES MAGIC PSEUDO-SCIENCE. That seems pretty great, and it hasn't been explored THAT much. 5 mechanics. How great they are is for you to judge.
WB (splash blue) - Necromancy, but CLASSICAL necromancy! Runes, incantations, bone dust, blood droplets, perform under the full moon, yada yada. The necromancy in magic has been more of the click-and-raise-the-deadans style so far, and I want to explore a more academical approach.
MECHANIC: Ressurect - Tap, do something and/or pay X: Exile a creature with parameter Y from a graveyard. While you control {this creature}, you may cast it.
Example:
UR (splash green) - Alchemy! Weirdly, hasn't been explored in magic at all (excluding one-offs). For this one, I imagine a tinkering mechanic encouraging fine-tuning of your libraries.
MECHANIC: Dissolve - Pay cost: Put the top card of your library into your graveyard. Then, you may exile it and a card with the same converted mana cost from your graveyard. If you do, {effect}.
Example:
BG (splash red) - Witchcraft! While witches have been seen in magic throughout its history, they were never given a really unique identity. This is what I want to do here.
MECHANIC: Hex - {condition}: Put a hex counter on target creature. Creatures with hex counters on them (negative effect for that creature). [EXPLANATION: Hex counters put by other witches still triggers every Hex ability on the battlefield].
Example:
WR (splash black) - Soulcraft! Basically shines a new focus on auras' what it does. Some of them will be clasic white and red battlecries, but some black for demonic auras will aslo be there.
MECHANIC: Weave - Pay cost: Reveal an aura from your hand and attach it to any permanent it can be attached to.
Example:
UG (splash white) - Transmogrification! Basically druids sitting in trees, changing around. We will have a bit of changelings and a bit of morphs, but the main theme will be Transformation Cards 3: This time it's funkier!
MECHANIC: Transmogrify - Pay cost: Target creature becomes Creature Type N until end of turn.
OVERALL SET MECHANIC: Potions. Artifact subtype, you may only cast a potion as long as you control a witch or alchemist. Also,
Brew (seen only on potions) - you may only cast this potion as long as you control permanent type or subtype Z.
Because this is a bottom-up set, I have literally no lore to back this up, but I plan to just make a few cards and see how they turn out.
SO. Enemy-colour combinations. They seem pretty great, and they haven't been explored that much. LATE MIDDLE AGES MAGIC PSEUDO-SCIENCE. That seems pretty great, and it hasn't been explored THAT much. 5 mechanics. How great they are is for you to judge.
WB (splash blue) - Necromancy, but CLASSICAL necromancy! Runes, incantations, bone dust, blood droplets, perform under the full moon, yada yada. The necromancy in magic has been more of the click-and-raise-the-deadans style so far, and I want to explore a more academical approach.
MECHANIC: Ressurect - Tap, do something and/or pay X: Exile a creature with parameter Y from a graveyard. While you control {this creature}, you may cast it.
Example:
UR (splash green) - Alchemy! Weirdly, hasn't been explored in magic at all (excluding one-offs). For this one, I imagine a tinkering mechanic encouraging fine-tuning of your libraries.
MECHANIC: Dissolve - Pay cost: Put the top card of your library into your graveyard. Then, you may exile it and a card with the same converted mana cost from your graveyard. If you do, {effect}.
Example:
BG (splash red) - Witchcraft! While witches have been seen in magic throughout its history, they were never given a really unique identity. This is what I want to do here.
MECHANIC: Hex - {condition}: Put a hex counter on target creature. Creatures with hex counters on them (negative effect for that creature). [EXPLANATION: Hex counters put by other witches still triggers every Hex ability on the battlefield].
Example:
WR (splash black) - Soulcraft! Basically shines a new focus on auras' what it does. Some of them will be clasic white and red battlecries, but some black for demonic auras will aslo be there.
MECHANIC: Weave - Pay cost: Reveal an aura from your hand and attach it to any permanent it can be attached to.
Example:
UG (splash white) - Transmogrification! Basically druids sitting in trees, changing around. We will have a bit of changelings and a bit of morphs, but the main theme will be Transformation Cards 3: This time it's funkier!
MECHANIC: Transmogrify - Pay cost: Target creature becomes Creature Type N until end of turn.
OVERALL SET MECHANIC: Potions. Artifact subtype, you may only cast a potion as long as you control a witch or alchemist. Also,
Brew (seen only on potions) - you may only cast this potion as long as you control permanent type or subtype Z.
Because this is a bottom-up set, I have literally no lore to back this up, but I plan to just make a few cards and see how they turn out.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/wizened-alchemist
I really like the design, thanks for taking time and participating in the project! There are two things I'd like to point out though
- 1. While the art is very interesting, it looks a little too sinister in my regard. I want this to be a really feel-good and whimsical set, differentiating it from Innistrad and Dominaria (as well as other planes with a similar setting).
- 2. The Dissolve mechanic should be italicized, since it's an ability word.
- 3. This is just to help you our personally, check out this link: http://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/2584/brief-guide-to-uploading-linked-pictures-images-in-comments-w-visual-aid/p1 to post cards as images.
Would you be fine with this retelling?
And you know, actually some peasants with smart enough minds can brew potions too, technically speaking.
Yeah, alchemists should probably get potions too. About the peasants, I presume if they are very clever they'll start studying the art and eventually become witches/alchemists.
Edit: I gave the witches a new ability
Hm, I don't know, boss.
For the soulweavers, maybe.
- The color pie is the sacred thing that keeps the entire game of Magic from falling apart. Color shifting an entire ability is a massive break.
- In a set in which around 4-6 commons have the ability to steal my creatures, why would I want to play creatures?
-The focus on enemy color pairs is neat. Though, will this set be a ravnica-esque, multicolor matters set focusing exclusively on enemy pairs where there are multicolored commons, a tarkir-esque three color set, or a more traditional set with hardly any three color and being able to play any two-color combination (ally or enemy) is still viable?
-The late middle ages setting is neat. I think you'll have to be careful in distinguishing your more dark take on the time period from other similar fantasy settings in MTG, but I'm positive that's doable.
-Resurrect is a bit too similar to imprint to me. Either use imprint straight up or change resurrect to give it a distinguishing quality.
-Dissolve is a really cool mechanic. Lots of neat potential design space there.
-Charm is a color pie break for red and green. Black occasionally gets permanent "gain control of" effects, but red's effects are almost always conditional (typically involving around controlling the creature until the end of the turn), and green doesn't get this sort of effect at all.
-Regardless of color pie break, an archetype based around controlling creatures permanently seems really hard to design. It, at least initially, seems really unfun to play against and would be really hard to make cards for at common.
-Wave is potentially a really interesting mechanic. Though, it seems really similar to Aura Swap to me and given we've already seen an Aura Swap card as part of the "future" of MTG, why not just use that?
-Transmogrify is potentially interesting, but sort of feels do-nothing-y to me. I can see directions you can take it, but it feels sort of limited, especially when changeling is, seemingly, a strictly better transmogrify.
-There is a heavy lack of keyword mechanics (Flashback, morph, etc.) in the set as-is. All the cards in the set revolve around ability words (e.g. Landfall, constellation, etc.). Usually sets contain both, if not exclusively keyword mechanics.
-You can probably fix your color identity issues by moving around the tertiary types for each archetype. Here's what I suggest: WB(G) Necromancy, UR(W) Alchemy, BG(U) Witchcraft, WR(B) Soulcraft, and UG(R) Transmogrification.
-What will the name of your plane be?
- I think the latter one
- I want it to be a slightly ironic take, actually, not necessarily darker (notice how every card so far has a character discreetly smiling or smugly grinning. Most importantly I want it to be a feel-good set, so no eldritch-moon-esque abominations.
- Well, Ressurrect hits the graveyard, and you can cast the exiled card, but I'll think about it a while more, thanks for pointing it out
- Well, thank you!
- OK. I have heard a lot about charm being a color pie break, so I think I will just make it a separate card, and give witches another signature mechanic.
- See above
- wHy nOt bOtH? I think I want to keep weave as the signature mechanic, but feature a few auras with auraswap as well.
- I guess you're right. Do you have any ideas for replacement of it?
- Well, we'll have the evergreens, and not every single card in the factiom will have the ability word.
- That was my original plan, until I realised witches weren't placed red, and it kinda fell apart. The coulour trios we have, I think, If we could work them out, could provide an interesting perspective. Then again, we'll keep tinkering.
- Uhh... I don't know yet. Ideas?
Okay, I like that mechanic A LOT more. My only suggestion is either give the hex counters a base effect (similarly to how +1/+1 counters give +1/+1), so they aren't useless when you have no creatures that interact with them, or just turn hex counters into -1/-1 counters.
How about "Creatures with hex counters can't block witches"?
Yeah, that seems fine. Just put that as reminder text whenever a creature mentions hex counters for the first time.
E.g.
"Put a hex counter on target creature. (Creatures with hex counters on them can't block Witches.)"
Great! Now that all of the glaring problems have been mitigated, I'd say we begin tinkering. To start us off, I say finish the 10-card iconics-for-each-faction cycle (So far consisting of Wisened Alchemist and Ghoulmistress), and then draw up a set skeleton.
I'd highly recommend keeping -1/-1 counters out of the set with hex counters already in it in order to prevent them from getting mixed up. I'd make Bloodthron Witch just say "Creatures get -1/-1 for each hex counter on them."
Actually, I was planning on making a separate URR alchemist and a BGG witch. (10 card cycle = 2 cards for every faction)
About it being weak... Yeah, you're probably right. I'll just do -1/-1.
I fixed the witch. What do you think about Inspiration Forger?
So will there only be enemy pair multicolor cards in this set?
Inspiration forger is fine. I have nothing to say about it other than that I like the name.
Also, if you want to look at my takes on a counters-based mechanic like Hex, you can look at the Smog archetype from Blackened Skies.
For the Blackened Skies, I like the smog counters idea quite a bit (I've already pointed out how much effort you put into these things, but I'll point it out once more), but what really interests me is the widgets. I think hexes could be seen a bit like reverse widgets.
For the multicolour cards, I think certainly at common and uncommon, but it would be a good idea to create some allied pair cards for rare. It's a time-tested combination, after all.
Then I suggest designing this more like a faction-based Ravnica sort of set. That allows you the space to design multicolored cards at common and really focus on the enemy pairings.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by "reverse widgets," though.
In that case I'd say more allied, then, because the liquid feel is more important to me.
And by 'reverse widgets', I meant giving a whole category an effect, but instead of positive it's negative.