Custom Commanders - Will it Balance?

Comments

• Usaername

  October 2020

  This is just first draft advice, and mostly won't cover things such as syntax and power/toughness
  
  on Shou:
  - I think 2WUB or 1WUB would work best, instead of the strange hybrid mana concoction
  - Fear is an outdated mechanic. Is it directly related to the character? if not, I could probably help you come up with something that fits better.
  - Looting with a bonus feels a little good as a thing to do for free. Maybe make it cost 1?
  - I think Knight or Solider would be more accurate creature types
  
  on Terry (front face)
  - 2 mana for a 2/2 indestructible with a nice transform side seems a little good, but I think 3 mana would be fine.
  
  on Terry (transformed)
  - first ability should probably read "Scry 2, then reveal the top card of your library. If it's a nonland permanent card, put a loyalty counter on CARDNAME, then put that card into your hand.
  
  on Lee:
  - WUG tend to be enchantment colors rather than equipment colors, so I'd reccomend maybe cutting green for red
  
  on Akaris:
  - Devour X doesn't work, as 'Devour N' means sacrifice any number of creatures, then put N +1/+1 counters on the creature for each creature sacrificed that way. The wording you might be looking for can be found on Thromok the Insatiable: https://scryfall.com/card/pca/106/thromok-the-insatiable
  
  on Swenje:
  - vigilance AND double strike feels a bit over the top, especially on a base 3/3
  - should 100% be either Temur or Jeskai. Naya doesn't really fit here, due to the lack of blue
  - I'd restrict the third ability to strictly instants, as it makes it more flavorful and more balanced.
  
  on Thaddeus 
  - I hate to say it, but I really think Esper or Mardu colors would work best here, but I can sorta see it being spun for Grixis
  - tbh this card is also really underpowered, but we can get to that later.
  
  Two things that could be really helpful are 1: Making mockups of these cards in something like cardsmith or mtg.design and 2: If you have discord, I'd recommend joining the official MTGCardsmith discord server. If you want any additional help, feel free to ping me, I have no life and will happily give card advice pretty much whenever
  
  
• Farqinson

  October 2020

  Thanks for the pointers!
  
  As most of these cards are referring to characters with a set of personalities, some of the design choices were meant with those in mind. I'm currently in the process of making mockups of the cards, though they're currently artless.
  
  On Shou:
  

  • The looting bit makes sense, and paying 1 meshes well with the spell slot rules in DnD. I'll change it. 
  • Fear was connected to one of his feats that involved making people within range flee in fear if they failed a wisdom check. I had been considering Provoke, serving to reference his brawler role during combat. Could that perhaps mesh better with the buff received through looting, or would the ability not work due to being an attack trigger?
  • The hybrid W/B mana is a reference to the grim individual he used to be (we can't have DnD without a liiiittle bit of grimdark, can we?), contrasting with the individual he is trying to be. Also, he's constantly dealing with two gods, each on either end of the morality spectrum.

  
  On Terry:
  

  • Seems reasonable. Could changing it to a 1/2 help motivate the mana cost?
  • Changed the wording on the +2, thanks!

  
  On Lee: 
  

  • Yes, red would most like simplify the design process, but the colour doesn't mesh super well with the character's personality. I could fit it in, but this is one of instances where flavour and colour-identity sort of collides in a bad way. Perhaps turning him into a four-colour commander could solve the problem?

  
  On Akaris:
  

  • Changed the wording, thanks!

  
  On Swenje:
  

  • Perhaps only having Vigilance is a better option here to offset the amount of buff cards available in Naya? Could Reach help as a defensive bonus?
  • This character has the same colour-identity issue as Lee, where blue (the colour of intelligence) doesn't really fit the character. The spells included would spread wide over the CMC spectrum and be fairly random in terms of effect, making it less "reliable", which is why I figured sorceries should be included to help diversify. See more in the design comment below.

   
  On Thaddeus:
  

  • Indeed, moving away from those archetypes felt bad, but meshes well with an overarching goal to have seperate colour identities for each deck. Since tribal won't be a huge factor of the deck, I think Grixis will be a fun variation.
  • I see. Could something like a card draw ability help balance this character? For example:

  Whenever Thaddeus Rayne, Lawmaster deals combat damage, place a bounty counter on target permanent. If the damage was dealt to a player/creature, draw a card.
  
  
  Again, massive thanks for the help!  
  
  Here are some extra design comments that broke the post limit earlier:
  
  On Shou + Terry:
  

  Comment: By far the most elaborate design with the most steps. The first character, Shou, died during the adventure, meaning the second character is on a quest to resurrect him. Doing this will involve travelling to a different plane of existence, which is why Terry is a Planeswalker once Shou has left the battlefield. The ultimate ability would require several loops to jump through before activating, allowing it to be strong enough to be a game-ending move.

  Shou as a character was always a jack-of-all-trades, making me want him to have access to all five colours. The inclusion of Terry makes this possible without just making him five colours. The hybrid W/B mana is a reference to the grim individual he used to be (we can't have DnD without a liiiittle bit of grimdark, can we?), contrasting with the individual he is trying to be.

  
  On Lee Ironwood:
  

  This character uses stealth and trickery to land high-impact blows with his Sneak Attack (which often requires flanking in DnD) and custom rapier, leading me to try and make the character into a duel-type Voltron character. The combination of Skulk and Flanking (if I understand the keywords correctly) means he'll have an edge against creatures who are just small enough to block him. Without a weapon and an enchantment, however, he's not as useful.

  
  

  On Akaris:

  Comment: This character uses a homebrew feat to regain life through, you guessed it, devouring people. One of her signature spells is Inflict Wounds, meaning Deathtouch seemed like a good fit. Finally, the recursion mechanic is meant to mirror her ability to bring people back from the dead. This is one of the mechanics I'm most worried about balance-wise, because I really want it on the card.

  
  

  On Swenje: 
  

  Comment: While our monk isn't a complete blockhead, he likes to think with his fists instead of his brain. Because of this, placing him in the "blue" colour identity seemed off. He attacks twice as much as everyone else, and has the "Observant" feat, meaning he'll never be surprised. Apart from this, he multi-classed into Sorcerer, taking the Wild Magic feat. This means he'll have a chance to trigger a magical effect chosen randomly every time he casts a spell, which might not always be beneficial to what he wanted to do (gambling is fun!).

  
  

  
  
• Usaername

  October 2020

  re: Shou
  - maybe when you discard a card you can choose a creature(s) that can't block this turn? maybe one for each opponent?
  - if you're insistent on hybrid mana, I'd just make it 2 W/B W/B or 3 W/B W/B. it's mostly an aesthetic thing, but I think that colored mana symbols next to hybrid mana symbols just look ugly.
  
  re: Terry
  - Yeah, a 1/2 could work, I suppose, but I feel like making it 3 mana would just be better. Considering it doesnt do anything without Shou and Shou costs more, I don't see why it can't be 3 mana
  
  re: Lee
  - I think three colors is fine, and I think bant is fine as well, I was just pointing out that there was less equipment support without red. One question, though, is what is the character's personality like? Red in magic is the color of freedom, and rogues seem like just the people to defy authority.
  
  re: Swenje
  - vigilance and reach is fine
  - I think you could keep this Naya for sure but I'd reccomend trying out some other ways of getting the free card casts, because the top of the library is major blue territory. See Elsha of the Infinite: https://scryfall.com/card/c19/40/elsha-of-the-infinite
  - sorceries would definitely help diversify, yes, but a ton of the huge splashy broken spells in those colors are sorceries, and although there isn't a ton of topdeck manipulation in those colors, sensei's divining top is colorless, and could easily be abused to cast huge splashy spells super early and super fast. Imagine hitting something like Apex of Power: https://scryfall.com/card/m19/129/apex-of-power
  
  re: Akaris
  - yes, the ability might be a little good. Perhaps adding a mana cost to the ability would be prudent
  
  re: Thaddues
  - I could see something like "Whenever a creature with a bounty counter on it dies, draw a card, then create an X/X CREATURETYPE token, where X is the number of cards you've drawn this turn
• KorandAngels

  October 2020

  Four "novels" is pretty impressive. Well done.