I had a few other ideas, but it's getting late XD. It would be fun if I get to stop back and post a creature or something before time is up. I tend to think white could draw a card by way of a creature that returns itself to your hand at sorcery speed to do so, or on a more theoretical level draw cards as long as they are cards that fit certain conditions or match other cards you have already introduced, or in some way serve to manufacture more of the "standard issue" instead of introducing new technology and ideas in the way card draw often does. Thanks for looking at my idea. See ya.
And yes, I'm super curious about the new keyword. Since it's an enemy-coloured set, I would expect them to fill the hole left by Prowess for a combat-relevant keyword in blue/red. However, they usually don't make keywords evergreen without having tested them first in a set and see how they are received, so it might be an ability we already know. The closest to being keyworded has to be Daunt (Can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less) since it's already used in virtually every recent set. But maybe it's an action keyword, having a keyword for "When this permanent enters the battlefield" seems overdue for instance.
It is now Monday everywhere in the world, which means...
THE CONTEST IS CLOSED FOR JUDGING!
Thank you everyone who participated, I will be coming back soon to announce the winners. I will also provide a short feedback on every card that has been posted =D
It is now time to announce the winners! Thanks again to everyone who participated! =D
Because we had a whooping 38 entries from 17 different participants, I am going to make a little more room on the podium and have a Top 5 instead of the Top 3 I initially announced Here are the new rewards:
1st place: 7 favourites of your choice (instead of 5)
2nd place: 5 favourites of your choice (instead of 3)
3rd place: 3 favourites of your choice (instead of 1)
4th place: 2 favourites of your choice (instead of 0)
5th place: 1 favourite of your choice (instead of 0)
Even if you're not on the podium, I still wrote a short feedback on every card that was submitted so everyone can better understand my subjective opinion, you can find yours right below the winners announcement ^^
I was really drawn to the sheer originality of this idea. Toughness-matters is a classic White theme, but requiring a power to toughness difference and then scaling the card advantage based on the lower number was incredibly elegant. I think the execution of the card could be cleaner by making it a clear draw spell instead of a weird instant pump spell and I'm not sure Flashback does anything good for this card, which is why I haven't placed it higher on the podium, but I was certainly intrigued by the core concept.
This has to be one of the most clever ways to tie life gain to card draw I have seen in this whole contest. What really made me want to have this card on the podium was that it always yields you exactly one card regardless of how much life you have more than your starting life total, which I though was incredibly elegant. The thing that kept it out of the Top 3 for me was the weird life gain ability at the beginning. It doesn't help you gain life by itself, it feels like a very complicated win-more ability, for me, so I think the card would read better without it. Still, I'd definitely be interested in testing this card on Rezatta because it looks super fun to play with!
Out of all 38 entries we had in this contest, if someone at WOTC showed up and told me "There is an exact copy of one of these cards in the next set to be released officially" I would guess it would be this card. It uses all the right knobs to make sure it feels like a natural White card draw ability, from the focus on closing the gap when you're behind, to the parallel with playing lands, to the little tax. The only reason it's not higher on the podium is simply because I decided to highlight some flashier designs in terms of originality, but you definitely win first place in realism for me!
This card is my personal pick for best originality to realism ratio. It does something that is squarely in White's share of the colour pie by today's standards of design, but what sold me in pushing this design to second place is that it doubles as a group hug card in a very subtle and elegant manner. I think it's interesting to read, probably a lof of fun to play with, and it feels like a real card to me. I nitpick a bit more in the feedback section below, but truly the only reason this is not first place is because of how much I liked first place and not because anything that was missing from this design.
I was truly blown away by the cleverness and elegance of this concept! I might nitpick about a few details here and there (it's reaaaally wordy and that flavour text doesn't help xD) but it doesn't really matter to me. This is my first place because it's the most original design that came out of this contest, in my personal opinion, while still feeling like a realistic monoWhite card that allows you to draw
___
And we're done! Again, congratulations to everyone who participated, whether you were on the podium or not. The competition was fierce and this is only my subjective opinion, there were a lot of great designs all around that I'm sure would have made Top 5 with another judge ^^
As for the rewards:
DrakeGladis: Which 7 cards would you like me to favourite?
LyndonF: Which 5 cards would you like me to favourite?
AboveAndAbout: Which 3 cards would you like me to favourite?
Cofeeish: Which 2 cards would you like me to favourite?
Jadefire: Which 1 card would you like me to favourite?
Congratulations again to everyone, and thank you =D That was a very fun contest to host and judge, I'm really happy how it turned out ^^
Now, as promised, I'm going to post below a short feedback for every card that was submitted. The cards are ordered by participants in alphabetical order, you can find your name by hitting the search option (ctrl+F) to find yours quickly.
This is a very elegant
design! Both drawing cards and playing lands is something that White is
traditionally allowed to do, and I especially liked that you restricted the
ability so it activates only if you’re behind on resources. The tax is also a
very White thing to do, it’s a bit reminiscent of Smothering Tithe for
instance. Overall, it’s a well-balanced design that feels like it perfectly
respects the colour pie and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this exact design be
printed in an actual set sooner than later =D
Seeing Tree
Caring about
indestructible is quite original and I see how it would feel White. I don’t
think this would be viable unless there’s a specific mechanic in the set that
gives indestructible to creatures, but why not. I like the tax attached to the
effect, it’s very White as well. About the hand size restriction, I like the
idea that it would be one way to balance out White card draw, it’s definitely a
very elegant concept, but on this card it feels like overkill since there are
already two safeguards in place (the indestructible creature attacking
restriction, and the tax).
Coffeeish
Tygen, Burning Bright
It’s a really original
idea and I’m a fan of how well it scales. The first part sounds a bit overly
complicated; I honestly think it would have been better to just have “You gain
2 life” or nothing at all, just so it’s less wordy and either still relies on
other life gain cards in a simpler way or doesn’t as much. Overall, I still
like it a lot and making it a legendary creature is another welcome safeguard!
(On a side note, it is missing the legendary frame though.)
Soul Vanguard
“If you gained N or
more life this turn” sounds like a safe bet in terms of expanding white card
draw abilities The combination with the first ability is interesting, death
is a less common theme in white but it’s not unheard of and I like that it
hints at a white/black combination, which solidifies the ties with the existing
colour pie.
Squadron Standard
That’s a whole lot of
card draw! It’s probably a bit much, in my opinion. Caring about the opponent
having more cards typically feels White — so that’s good — but it’s a quite
soft restriction, especially if you play first. In parallel, searching for
Angel cards repeatedly is a really strong bonus, not something you’d want on a
2-mana enchantment, I think. On top of that, the second ability doubles that
card advantage for a small mana investment, which feels pretty broken.
DrakeGladis
Ashletia, Lady of Swords
That’s a really
elegant and original design. It really tells a story through gameplay — on a
side note, I don’t think the card has room for three lines of flavour text when
it already has 7 lines of rules text. It’s really up to the opponent to decide
if they’re going to let you draw cards, so I think that respects the colour
pie, in a very unusual way. I especially love how it forces the opponent to
attach the equipment, so it acts like a soft “can’t attack” enchantment on top
of everything!
The first ability is original and flavourful, on its own it’s already a great reward for a lifegain deck and particularly a lifelink-matters deck. The second ability gives it a more Phyrexian vibe, which is cool, but I think it feels a bit disconnected since your opponent isn’t that likely to gain life and there is nothing on this card that gives the opponent life. Also, because this is technically a kind of life gain hate, I’m not sure it feels very White, that’s more Red and Black design space territory.
Communism
“Tap an untapped creature: Draw a card” would be incredibly broken, I’m afraid, even on a 6-mana enchantment. This isn’t even an argument about colour pie here, I’m pretty sure this would be broken as a blue, green or colourless card as well. The second ability is probably too generous as well, but I like how it synergises with the first so you get something to do with all the lands you’re drawing in the late game. I think it would work if it targeted just one creature.
Diligent Scribe
Balancing the resources of players when you’re behind is a very White thing to do, so this feels right. This iteration is very strong though, if you compare it to similar cards, Archivist is 4-mana while Keeper of the Mind has a mana cost attached to that ability and requires to be two cards down. Both examples are blue cards, which is supposed to be the best colour at drawing cards. So, I like the idea, but I’m not fan of these numbers.
FangQuil
Mamarc, High Tax Collector
The concept behind this design is really interesting, I especially like the combination of the first two abilities. That being said, I think it’s way too generous. Choosing two colours should be enough to get at least one Treasure for virtually every spell your opponent plays, barring very specific matchups. I don’t think it’s the right reward, something less impactful like life gain would probably be a safer bet. The last ability is also way too strong, in my opinion, I appreciate how you let a chance of stopping the card draw to the opponent, but realistically this would still draw you way too many cards.
Squadron Tactics
That’s a really original proposition, I would need to playtest it to give a really constructive criticism about this one xD My gut feeling is that it’s too strong, because one-mana creatures are still very potent in MTG and getting three additional nonland cards whenever you cast a spell is an almost unsurmountable advantage, especially since they’re cheap so you can play them on the spot. You basically quadruple your one-mana creatures for just three-mana. However, I’d be really interested in seeing a version that yields you exactly one card a turn.
Compulsory Compensation
I love the idea, though I think that’s a bit too much card draw for White and it would need to add another colour to draw cards in such an effective way — either blue or red would do. It’s also probably undercosted. If your deck is designed to vomit your hand as fast as possible, this will win you the game in just a couple turns.
Jadefire
Brilliant Standard
I think there’s a strong concept in there but considering how wordy the card is (you didn’t even have room to space out the Equip ability) I think it would have been better if it were simpler. If you removed the Tribal Flagbearer types, removed the last ability — which is a fun idea but not on card with 10 lines of rules text, then made this an enchantment, I would absolutely love this.
Resourceful Baroness
Caring about having less lands than the opponent is a classic White trope so it works great as a restriction for White card draw, I think. I’m a little lukewarm about the landfall trigger though, it’s usually not a very White thing to care about outside of Zendikar, which is very dedicated to lands. The fact that this is only 1-mana doesn’t help, it’s really strong and could yield you an additional card each turn starting on turn 2 for the remainder of the game thanks to that second ability. It’s probably a bit too much, even if it wasn’t White.
Call on the Divine
That’s some really original concept! I would need to play with it a bit to be able to tell if it’s broken or not, but you need at least a 1/3 to go over the cantrip threshold so I think it’s probably fine. Overall, I find the idea very elegant and the toughness-matters theme is decidedly White. My only bemol would be the Flashback ability, I’m not sure what it’s doing there and, considering this might have the potential to be broken, I don’t think you want players to be able to abuse it. At +1/+2 for 3-mana it really shouldn’t be considered a pump spell but rather a complicated draw spell, and I think that Flashback cost was meant as a way to leverage the pump spell aspect, correct?
JakDraco
Purestone Cairn
This is exploring some new design space for White card draw, which is exciting! You’ve decided to condition it to playing basic lands; since White isn’t particularly good at ramping, I think caring about Plains specifically could have make it feel more White and less Green. I like that you tied the draw ability to a team pump, this helps balance the first ability by making in the card feel more White for me. Overall, the card seems reasonably balanced and proposes something interesting
Ruinclaimer
This is breaking the colour pie a bit too much, in my opinion. White is tertiary at best in land destruction through some extremely rare Armageddon effects, so it probably wouldn’t get a card caring about it. It’s also tertiary in Trample, and the card clearly could have been made without it since it doesn’t synergise with the rest of the effects. The combination of its effects clearly indicates a monoRed card to me.
Strategic Sacrifice
The first ability feels unnecessary to me, it’s overly complicated and I think the card would work just as fine as a regular instant caring about attacking creatures you control instead. I think it’s a very interesting proposition otherwise, you’re proposing to exchange an attack against a card. I like the concept very much, it feels White, though I think it might be a little generous, you could easily draw over four cards with this!
This is reminiscent of
Mangara ^^ While it feels White, I think it goes a little overboard and is too
generous since it doesn’t have any restriction attached. I wouldn’t bet that
this will never happen in official MTG either, but I’d expect this to be at
least 6- or 7-mana (or in a future where the power creep has gone even more out
of hand). I don’t get the Protection from Lands from a flavour or mechanical
perspective, why it this here? Last little note, the Mangara templating feels
quite jarring on this card. Technically, it does allow it to scale in
multiplayer games, but I think going for the usual “Whenever a creature attacks
you” would make this much cleaner.
LyndonF
Basin Scout
I believe the mechanic
would be fine as a White card in the sense that it only draws you a single card
— though in a way that’s specific enough not to be considered a cantrip — and
is very close to what the Explore mechanic from Ixalan would do in White as
well. However, the land focus gives a very green vibe. Barring some
place-specific shenanigans (looking at you, Zendikar) I think it doesn’t feel
very White and might benefit from caring only about Plains for instance.
Abettor of the Weak
A nice variation on
the white balance theme. I especially enjoy the symmetry between the creature
and card advantage ability, which really sells the concept. It’s very
reminiscent of Linvala, switching life gain for card draw, but I like the fact
that instead it always trigger for you so it toggles between catching up and
group hug. I have the tiniest bemol, which is that the stats and tokens feel a
little underwhelming and, even though the card couldn’t be called underpowered
stricto sensu, I think the design is interesting enough that you could have
pushed for something slightly more exciting — especially with the group hug
safeguard.
proggy
The Shifting Sands
There’s definitely an
interesting story in there. It’s basically a Settle the Wreckage except it
draws cards instead of fetching lands. I like this concept, but I think the
artifact rider feels weird and makes the card too swingy. At 5-mana against an
opponent, it’s not that exciting, to be honest. At 8-mana on your own board,
you’d better win the game on the spot with some artifact combo for it to be
worthy. I think it would just be more interesting as a simpler 4-mana card
without the artifact thing. Also, on a side note, to cast spells as you draw
them you need to reveal them first so the templating of the artifact ability is
a bit off.
Pstmdrn
Scholar of Darkness
I like that it feels
very White in a flavourful way. However, I believe it would be broken in a
dedicated tribal deck. Putting this in a vampire or zombie deck with a bit of
mill would probably draw you dozens of cards, which is too much. I think it
should only work as a hate card, but then it should care about something less
specific, like black creatures in general. In addition, there’s a slight
templating issue, it should be “is put into a graveyard from anywhere”.
Dwarven Bookeeper
The life gain and
artifact hate feels like something a modern set would realistically do to
implement white card draw, so the concept is realistic. However, “Sacrifice a
Treasure: Draw a card” is an extremely potent ability (see Treasure Cove) so
putting this in a 2-mana creature would be completely broken I’m afraid. There
is also a slight templating issue with the first ability, those two triggers
actually can’t go together, you would need two separate abilities to do that.
Whispering Ward
I really like this
design, it’s borrowing a lot from how Green usually handles this kind of
things, but I think it’s still part of the hybrid design space between those
two colours and the non-White clause was a nice touch! My only little bemol
would be that giving protection from a colour to all your creatures is a very
strong ability since it can make them unblockable, so I think it needs a high
mana cost attached to its activation, or at the very least prevent them from
dealing damage.
The card could use
some polishing, an obvious problem being that the text goes over the black
border — I assume the first ability says “draw a card” unless you’ve used
Arabic numbers in there, the abilities are in the wrong order (keywords go
before ETB abilities), there are 10 lines of text without spacing between the
abilities, etc. For the design itself, you usually don’t want to mix two
different kinds of counters together. In this case, the card could have done
the same thing by counting the +1/+1 counters instead of adding labor counters
in the mix. Caring about life gain feels like a pretty White way to draw card
and at 8-mana it’s ok if the ability is a bit on the broken side. Overall, the
card is really complicated and would benefit from focusing on one cool idea at
a time.
SpellPiper2213
Blessed
Lightbringer
This ability is a
classic monoWhite trigger and seems like a realistic shot at how WOTC would
implement more card draw in White in the future. I don’t think the 1 life is
particularly needed since you’ve already gained at least 4 this turn; Because
there’s nothing super original going on with the card, I’d aim at the cleanest
possible template to leverage the simplicity of it.
Lay to Rest
A nice common making
use of the canonical group hug white card draw. Destroying a Legendary creature
feels very specific though and I don’t think this is the kind of spell you
would consider using on your own permanents, but I get that in a dedicated set
à la Dominaria it could theoretically be a thing. I would have considered making
either the scry or draw conditional and the other one always happen, just so
it’s not a Divine Verdict so often.
Suicidal_Deity
The Other’s Tale
The concept is
interesting and pushes for an original theme, but I believe the card is way
undercosted. The fact that it’s so cheap AND repeatable is also a huge concern
to me. In addition, having two creatures that don’t share a creature type is arguably
easier than having two creatures that share a creature type. So, I think this
is too generous by a wide margin.
Flee to Victory
The concept of
exchanging an attack against resources is definitely interesting and I see how
it would feel White. Removing creatures from combat is a bit rules-intensive
for common though, and I don’t think the card works as you would need to add
restrictions on when to cast this. Also, if you remove a creature from combat,
it means damage hasn’t happened yet so the last ability cannot ever trigger. In
addition, the card is a bit close to a cantrip, though I think the concept in itself
makes it just specific enough, but the effect is so weak that I don’t think it
would be worth a slot outside of unfun combos that would want free spells that
do nothing à la Manamorphose.
Faithful Looting
There is a nice
concept in there, the fact that you would basically skip your turn would
definitely balance the fact that you get to draw two cards for one mana in
exchange. In most cases though, it would be a straight-up white Divination;
However, the fact that you need to cast it as your last spell of the turn
instead of your first as usual is definitely an intriguing proposition of
gameplay.
TheDukeofPork
Blooming Light
This is a really
complicated way of templating this effect. Why not add the 1 mana to the mana
cost? Why would I cast this spell if I don’t want to pay the 1 mana? The fact
that this counts the number of W in your mana pool so you don’t actually use
them for the spell is interesting but really confusing as well. Overall, it’s a
really convoluted “XW – Draw X-N cards” type of spell, which feels like it
breaks the colour pie on principle since that’s supposed to stay a monoblue
effect.
An enchantment version
of Inspiring Commander sounds like a safe bet for white card draw and I
wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar happen one day in an official
set. That being said, the fact that it’s cheaper and immune to creature removal
is a really beneficial trade from the 6-mana 1/4 body it initially was. I don’t
think it’s outside the spectrum of possible — especially with WOTC’s recent
liking in openly broken cards — and this is no Great Henge, but it’s still very
pushed, in my opinion.
Blast of True
Devotion
It’s an original idea
I haven’t seen in other entries yet. I like the concept of tying White card
draw to a removal spell. It’s expensive enough that I wouldn’t mind the
efficient card draw, since you could argue at this price even colourless could
do something similar. Caring about the toughness of the creature like this also
feels like a pretty White theme (you could reasonably consider targeting your
own walls with it), I like that concept. It also reminds me a bit of how Green recently
got a boost in card drawing and does big draw spells through “Draw cards equal
to your creature’s power” abilities now.
I don’t think the additional cost is needed though, it’s a 6-mana
targeted removal, I think it’s expensive enough as it is.
Madrek, Lord of the
Bank
It’s a funny
combination of abilities and is very flavourful from a mechanical perspective.
However, I think the first ability is completely broken. Having the opponent
gain life is cute and tells a good story with the second ability, but it’s not
really a cost per se, it will have close to no impact on the game compared to
drawing at least one additional card per round. I like the second ability, it
won’t matter often but it might yield a bit of value from time to time and
decks that pay life tend to be more aggressive, so the life gain might actually
be relevant.
Tonysparks
Blessings of the
Patron
The last ability is
reminiscent of Dawn of Hope, so it feels White in principle. However, Dawn of
Hope was at the very limit of what’s acceptable for White card draw; Even
though this costs more mana to cast, the 1-mana activation is probably a bit
over the line, in my opinion. In addition, both the first abilities are
mistemplated. The first ability should go “If… instead”, like Angel of
Vitality. The second ability loops itself, reminder texts isn’t meant to
precise how you want the ability to happen, it just explains what the
non-italicised text does, and this one loops indefinitely. You need “for the
first time each turn” instead
Divine Destiny
I find the intent of
the first ability confusing, do you mean that you add Scry 2 after drawing the
cards if you cast this in response to the opponent playing the chosen spell? I
don’t think Scry 2 is worth all those complications, I like the concept, but
you’d need an actual reward to make this worth it. On that note, the baseline
of this spell is “2WWW Instant — Draw 1 card”, which is not going to cut it in
any deck, especially at rare. The most powerful version of the spell is “2WW
Instant — Draw 2 cards, scry 2” if you’ve foretold it and the opponent plays a
specific spell, which is a worst Behold the Multiverse, a blue common. In
parallel, that’s not how Foretell works; Because you don’t reveal the card you
foretell, it cannot trigger an ability as you foretell it. So the card has a
cute concept going on but is just not worth it — and I think like I’m pilling
on, sorry, but you need to write the number of cards you draw in letters, use
Arabic numbers when talking about life and damage only.
Dogma of the
Exalted
There’s a lot going on
with this card, some of it is interesting, but the whole package doesn’t feel
particularly cohesive, in my opinion. I like the first chapter, temporarily
giving up combatants sounds like a realistic White way to draw cards. The
second chapter is flavourful but doesn’t work the way it’s templating. You’d
need to check the graveyard and battlefield in separate sentences for it to
work, which is not going to be compatible with the amount of space allowed on a
Saga. The last chapter really goes off the rail though, both “if all prior
conditions” and “tapped by this” don’t work in the rules for multiple reasons,
and the pot-pourri of keywords at the end feel s really jarring — the City’s
Blessing? Why?? O_O Also, the ability doesn’t untap the creatures so they gain
exalted and lifelink but remain tapped
I loved the critisisim, It will help better me as a cardsmith designer. In hindsight the end of the saga should have had untap so definetely some good insight. Actually all the critisism was solid and you definetly took your time on this and Im leaving here feeling like it's not winning that matters but just the thought. Thanks again.
To answer your burning question. I agree the city's blessing in the saga doesn't do much in other sets but its more of a flavor descision than a practical one. When I was doing this, I was imagining Ixalan creature cards going through this and becoming these better versions of themselves. Like a blue rogue with ascend turning into an Azorious (Blue/white) Monk (Cleric + Rogue) with their ascention bonus on top of it.) So that part can be chucked up to my imagination running rampart during the process.
Holy cow! I uh. I was not expecting 1st place! This was a random design I thought up one night just for a lark really. I wanted to do something better than Emry for "Lady of the Lake", and this just came to me. I saw this, was like, "Oh, good, the card is useful here," submitted it, and thought that if I was lucky I'd get a comment. Thank you so much @ningyounk Uh. Yeah. Favorites time.
Haha, it got me pretty surprised to see that on there, not gonna lie x) The problem with granting the City's Blessing like this is that it also undercuts the whole mini-game about reaching ten permanents, though. If there had been a card in Rivals of Ixalan that just said "You get the City's Blessing", it would have lost its flavour, I'd rather have an ability that creates a lot of tokens for instance.
Wow @ningyounk, thanks for the thorough feedback. It's not common for contest hosts to put so much time into showing appreciation for the work put into the entries. I'm grateful that you've given us a chance to see into your judging process. Please feel free to like anything from among my cards. https://www.mtgcardsmith.com/user/Jadefire/cards
You asked a question in one of your comments so I'll answer that and provide some additional thoughts:
Brilliant Standard I agree that the card is wordy, given that the target-choosing ability is worded very specifically in Oracle, the top half of the textbox was non-optional. The card-drawing portion of the card could be more straightforward and less gimmicky. I have a version of the card that just says, "whenever a Flagbearer you control becomes the target of a spell or
ability an opponent controls, draw two cards" which could've saved a line to space out the equip ability. I specifically made the card an equipment and a tribal artifact to not stray too close to Coalition Flag. I also wanted it to be more reusable than an aura (I was looking to do a cross between Coalition Flag and something slightly less broken than Skullclamp). Giving the card the Flagbearer creature type is just fun because it means it can Spellskite targeted artifact destruction all by itself without having to be equipped to anything.
Resourceful Baroness I wasn't aware that caring about land drops was specifically a Zendikar thing. It just made sense that, since comparative land count is the condition for drawing, the trigger would revolve around that balance shifting. As for making the card cost only 1 mana, I thought it would be too difficult to meet the condition, or too costly to tempo to maintain it later into the midgame, to require a higher mana cost. The scenario of the card yielding an additional draw every turn starting on turn 2 isn't possible since you have to be at least two lands behind your opponent for the draw to happen (i.e., after you play your land you still need to be behind). You'd have to be on the draw and play Resourceful Baroness using a Mox or some other nonland white mana and also decline your first land drop to make that happen. I do see that fetchlands can get a double trigger from the card but, once again, that's coming from a position of being two or more land drops behind.
Call on the Divine Since the card draw isn't unconditional (it requires the right creature being on the battlefield and can also be fizzled if anything happens to the creature) I felt the card needed some additional utility to justify its existence. +1/+2 is a very common boost in white and helps fulfill the card's requirements (the protection from creatures wasn't part of the original idea but I felt it was appropriate given the art I used). The flashback is there not to leverage the pump aspect of the spell for its own sake but to make the card not useless for card drawing if you only have a creature with a one-point difference between its power and toughness, as long as you have 2WWWW. The first casting of the card wouldn't yield any draws but would setup the second casting on the same turn. I was cognizant of the potential for abuse, which is why I made the flashback cost as high as I thought was reasonable. To make it any higher mana-wise would severely impede its use in the above scenario.
Congrats to all the winners and thanks for the challenge and detailed feedback!
For Basin Scout, my idea for the card draw was from a flavour standpoint -- white is always right about what they do, so will be more than happy to declare it to others. The land thing was something I thought of as specific to the scout? But that might be a bit weird. I tacked that on since I didn't want it to be just a creature with "etb, draw a card and reveal it" (though it might have worked).
I initially wanted Abettor of the Weak to also consider life totals (e.g. gain 3 life), but there wasn't enough space on the card since I wanted the reminder text. Giving the creature itself higher stats and producing larger/more(/both) tokens seem like good improvements.
For the favs, just fav both my entries and three other cards.
Congrats to the winners, there's some cool ideas here. and thank you for going through and critiquing all of them individually. I did not expect that, and that's really something of an effort. I appreciate the heck out of being included in that.
However! I will say in defense of my card haha it was 6cmc on the opponents turn (even more than you had thought) BUT it's 2 less on one's own turn, not more 4 mana
again thanks and super glad to be included, i found some favorites here. just had to clear my name of course!
(i don't know if it makes the card more interesting tho lol :P)
Ah yes, I totally misread that for some reason, my bad >.< Well it certainly makes the card an actual option to cast on your turn compared to when I though it was 8-mana xD But I don't think it changes the feedback I had earlier: You're going to give your board away, you need to be able to hit a combo and win when you cast it, or you just screw yourself. Having it a 4-mana does mean it's more realistic to pull it off, but I don't think it's a particularly fun perspective of gameplay as it's basically encouraging a one-turn kill based on sacrificing as many creatures as you can in the hope of randomly hitting the right artifact(s) from the top of your library. Also, there is still this weird mix of a removal card and a combo card that makes both halves awkwardly costed. I think what you have is actually two cards smooshed together that would be cleaner and more interesting if they were separate: a blue or red sorcery that warps your creatures into artifacts from the top of your library, and a white Settle the Wreckage that draws cards.
@ningyounk The case with Madrek's ability is that he's pretty much a one-mana-cheaper and quite a lot worse Consecrated Sphinx, I don't really think he's too overpowerd. But anyways, thanks for all the feedback! It must have been really hard writing to every participant, but you did it.
Yeah, but I don't think Consecrated Sphinx should be a role model for White card draw x) It's a really strong card that defines the best drawing colour in MTG. White is usually more about closing a gap in ressources, group hug draw, or drawing when you do something that's very specific to White like gaining life or playing auras. This lets you draw at least one additional card every turn in a non-conditional one-sided way, I think there would be a discussion about the card being too strong or not in Blue, so I believe it's definitely out of bounds for White.
MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Comments
No problem, old cards are allowed!
https://www.mtgcardsmith.com/view/call-on-the-divine
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/speak-with-dead-1?list=set&set=57647
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/the-shifting-sands-3
I had a few other ideas, but it's getting late XD. It would be fun if I get to stop back and post a creature or something before time is up. I tend to think white could draw a card by way of a creature that returns itself to your hand at sorcery speed to do so, or on a more theoretical level draw cards as long as they are cards that fit certain conditions or match other cards you have already introduced, or in some way serve to manufacture more of the "standard issue" instead of introducing new technology and ideas in the way card draw often does. Thanks for looking at my idea. See ya.
REMINDER: TWO MORE DAYS TO ENTER!
___Also, did you see Maro's teaser for Kaldheim on his Blogatog? He has teased a white card with the rules text “draw three cards”
Source: https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/646093724043116544/maros-strixhaven-teaser
Hey! Thanks for entering! Unfortunately, I'm going to rule this card as a cantrip, which is against the contest rules, my bad >.<
Oh yeah I definitely meant Strixhaven, my bad x)
And yes, I'm super curious about the new keyword. Since it's an enemy-coloured set, I would expect them to fill the hole left by Prowess for a combat-relevant keyword in blue/red. However, they usually don't make keywords evergreen without having tested them first in a set and see how they are received, so it might be an ability we already know. The closest to being keyworded has to be Daunt (Can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less) since it's already used in virtually every recent set. But maybe it's an action keyword, having a keyword for "When this permanent enters the battlefield" seems overdue for instance.
2nd entry:
THE CONTEST IS CLOSED FOR JUDGING!
Thank you everyone who participated, I will be coming back soon to announce the winners. I will also provide a short feedback on every card that has been posted =D
Because we had a whooping 38 entries from 17 different participants, I am going to make a little more room on the podium and have a Top 5 instead of the Top 3 I initially announced
Even if you're not on the podium, I still wrote a short feedback on every card that was submitted so everyone can better understand my subjective opinion, you can find yours right below the winners announcement ^^
Without further ado...
— 5th Place —
I was really drawn to the sheer originality of this idea. Toughness-matters is a classic White theme, but requiring a power to toughness difference and then scaling the card advantage based on the lower number was incredibly elegant. I think the execution of the card could be cleaner by making it a clear draw spell instead of a weird instant pump spell and I'm not sure Flashback does anything good for this card, which is why I haven't placed it higher on the podium, but I was certainly intrigued by the core concept.
— 4th Place —
This has to be one of the most clever ways to tie life gain to card draw I have seen in this whole contest. What really made me want to have this card on the podium was that it always yields you exactly one card regardless of how much life you have more than your starting life total, which I though was incredibly elegant. The thing that kept it out of the Top 3 for me was the weird life gain ability at the beginning. It doesn't help you gain life by itself, it feels like a very complicated win-more ability, for me, so I think the card would read better without it. Still, I'd definitely be interested in testing this card on Rezatta because it looks super fun to play with!
— 3rd Place —
Out of all 38 entries we had in this contest, if someone at WOTC showed up and told me "There is an exact copy of one of these cards in the next set to be released officially" I would guess it would be this card. It uses all the right knobs to make sure it feels like a natural White card draw ability, from the focus on closing the gap when you're behind, to the parallel with playing lands, to the little tax. The only reason it's not higher on the podium is simply because I decided to highlight some flashier designs in terms of originality, but you definitely win first place in realism for me!
— 2nd Place —
This card is my personal pick for best originality to realism ratio. It does something that is squarely in White's share of the colour pie by today's standards of design, but what sold me in pushing this design to second place is that it doubles as a group hug card in a very subtle and elegant manner. I think it's interesting to read, probably a lof of fun to play with, and it feels like a real card to me. I nitpick a bit more in the feedback section below, but truly the only reason this is not first place is because of how much I liked first place and not because anything that was missing from this design.
— 1st Place —
I was truly blown away by the cleverness and elegance of this concept! I might nitpick about a few details here and there (it's reaaaally wordy and that flavour text doesn't help xD) but it doesn't really matter to me. This is my first place because it's the most original design that came out of this contest, in my personal opinion, while still feeling like a realistic monoWhite card that allows you to draw
___
And we're done! Again, congratulations to everyone who participated, whether you were on the podium or not. The competition was fierce and this is only my subjective opinion, there were a lot of great designs all around that I'm sure would have made Top 5 with another judge ^^
As for the rewards:
- DrakeGladis: Which 7 cards would you like me to favourite?
- LyndonF: Which 5 cards would you like me to favourite?
- AboveAndAbout: Which 3 cards would you like me to favourite?
- Cofeeish: Which 2 cards would you like me to favourite?
- Jadefire: Which 1 card would you like me to favourite?
Congratulations again to everyone, and thank you =DThat was a very fun contest to host and judge, I'm really happy how it turned out ^^
Now, as promised, I'm going to post below a short feedback for every card that was submitted. The cards are ordered by participants in alphabetical order, you can find your name by hitting the search option (ctrl+F) to find yours quickly.
Relieve of Wealth
This is a very elegant design! Both drawing cards and playing lands is something that White is traditionally allowed to do, and I especially liked that you restricted the ability so it activates only if you’re behind on resources. The tax is also a very White thing to do, it’s a bit reminiscent of Smothering Tithe for instance. Overall, it’s a well-balanced design that feels like it perfectly respects the colour pie and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this exact design be printed in an actual set sooner than later =D
Seeing Tree
Caring about indestructible is quite original and I see how it would feel White. I don’t think this would be viable unless there’s a specific mechanic in the set that gives indestructible to creatures, but why not. I like the tax attached to the effect, it’s very White as well. About the hand size restriction, I like the idea that it would be one way to balance out White card draw, it’s definitely a very elegant concept, but on this card it feels like overkill since there are already two safeguards in place (the indestructible creature attacking restriction, and the tax).
Tygen, Burning Bright
It’s a really original idea and I’m a fan of how well it scales. The first part sounds a bit overly complicated; I honestly think it would have been better to just have “You gain 2 life” or nothing at all, just so it’s less wordy and either still relies on other life gain cards in a simpler way or doesn’t as much. Overall, I still like it a lot and making it a legendary creature is another welcome safeguard! (On a side note, it is missing the legendary frame though.)
Soul Vanguard
“If you gained N or more life this turn” sounds like a safe bet in terms of expanding white card draw abilities
The combination with the first ability is interesting, death
is a less common theme in white but it’s not unheard of and I like that it
hints at a white/black combination, which solidifies the ties with the existing
colour pie.
Squadron Standard
That’s a whole lot of card draw! It’s probably a bit much, in my opinion. Caring about the opponent having more cards typically feels White — so that’s good — but it’s a quite soft restriction, especially if you play first. In parallel, searching for Angel cards repeatedly is a really strong bonus, not something you’d want on a 2-mana enchantment, I think. On top of that, the second ability doubles that card advantage for a small mana investment, which feels pretty broken.
Ashletia, Lady of Swords
That’s a really elegant and original design. It really tells a story through gameplay — on a side note, I don’t think the card has room for three lines of flavour text when it already has 7 lines of rules text. It’s really up to the opponent to decide if they’re going to let you draw cards, so I think that respects the colour pie, in a very unusual way. I especially love how it forces the opponent to attach the equipment, so it acts like a soft “can’t attack” enchantment on top of everything!Elesh Norn, Cunning Tyrant
The first ability is original and flavourful, on its own it’s already a great reward for a lifegain deck and particularly a lifelink-matters deck. The second ability gives it a more Phyrexian vibe, which is cool, but I think it feels a bit disconnected since your opponent isn’t that likely to gain life and there is nothing on this card that gives the opponent life. Also, because this is technically a kind of life gain hate, I’m not sure it feels very White, that’s more Red and Black design space territory.
Communism
“Tap an untapped creature: Draw a card” would be incredibly broken, I’m afraid, even on a 6-mana enchantment. This isn’t even an argument about colour pie here, I’m pretty sure this would be broken as a blue, green or colourless card as well. The second ability is probably too generous as well, but I like how it synergises with the first so you get something to do with all the lands you’re drawing in the late game. I think it would work if it targeted just one creature.
Diligent Scribe
Balancing the resources of players when you’re behind is a very White thing to do, so this feels right. This iteration is very strong though, if you compare it to similar cards, Archivist is 4-mana while Keeper of the Mind has a mana cost attached to that ability and requires to be two cards down. Both examples are blue cards, which is supposed to be the best colour at drawing cards. So, I like the idea, but I’m not fan of these numbers.
Mamarc, High Tax Collector
The concept behind this design is really interesting, I especially like the combination of the first two abilities. That being said, I think it’s way too generous. Choosing two colours should be enough to get at least one Treasure for virtually every spell your opponent plays, barring very specific matchups. I don’t think it’s the right reward, something less impactful like life gain would probably be a safer bet. The last ability is also way too strong, in my opinion, I appreciate how you let a chance of stopping the card draw to the opponent, but realistically this would still draw you way too many cards.
Squadron Tactics
That’s a really original proposition, I would need to playtest it to give a really constructive criticism about this one xD My gut feeling is that it’s too strong, because one-mana creatures are still very potent in MTG and getting three additional nonland cards whenever you cast a spell is an almost unsurmountable advantage, especially since they’re cheap so you can play them on the spot. You basically quadruple your one-mana creatures for just three-mana. However, I’d be really interested in seeing a version that yields you exactly one card a turn.
Compulsory Compensation
I love the idea, though I think that’s a bit too much card draw for White and it would need to add another colour to draw cards in such an effective way — either blue or red would do. It’s also probably undercosted. If your deck is designed to vomit your hand as fast as possible, this will win you the game in just a couple turns.
Brilliant Standard
I think there’s a strong concept in there but considering how wordy the card is (you didn’t even have room to space out the Equip ability) I think it would have been better if it were simpler. If you removed the Tribal Flagbearer types, removed the last ability — which is a fun idea but not on card with 10 lines of rules text, then made this an enchantment, I would absolutely love this.
Resourceful Baroness
Caring about having less lands than the opponent is a classic White trope so it works great as a restriction for White card draw, I think. I’m a little lukewarm about the landfall trigger though, it’s usually not a very White thing to care about outside of Zendikar, which is very dedicated to lands. The fact that this is only 1-mana doesn’t help, it’s really strong and could yield you an additional card each turn starting on turn 2 for the remainder of the game thanks to that second ability. It’s probably a bit too much, even if it wasn’t White.
Call on the Divine
That’s some really original concept! I would need to play with it a bit to be able to tell if it’s broken or not, but you need at least a 1/3 to go over the cantrip threshold so I think it’s probably fine. Overall, I find the idea very elegant and the toughness-matters theme is decidedly White. My only bemol would be the Flashback ability, I’m not sure what it’s doing there and, considering this might have the potential to be broken, I don’t think you want players to be able to abuse it. At +1/+2 for 3-mana it really shouldn’t be considered a pump spell but rather a complicated draw spell, and I think that Flashback cost was meant as a way to leverage the pump spell aspect, correct?
Purestone Cairn
This is exploring some new design space for White card draw, which is exciting! You’ve decided to condition it to playing basic lands; since White isn’t particularly good at ramping, I think caring about Plains specifically could have make it feel more White and less Green. I like that you tied the draw ability to a team pump, this helps balance the first ability by making in the card feel more White for me. Overall, the card seems reasonably balanced and proposes something interesting
Ruinclaimer
This is breaking the colour pie a bit too much, in my opinion. White is tertiary at best in land destruction through some extremely rare Armageddon effects, so it probably wouldn’t get a card caring about it. It’s also tertiary in Trample, and the card clearly could have been made without it since it doesn’t synergise with the rest of the effects. The combination of its effects clearly indicates a monoRed card to me.
Strategic Sacrifice
The first ability feels unnecessary to me, it’s overly complicated and I think the card would work just as fine as a regular instant caring about attacking creatures you control instead. I think it’s a very interesting proposition otherwise, you’re proposing to exchange an attack against a card. I like the concept very much, it feels White, though I think it might be a little generous, you could easily draw over four cards with this!
Brutha, Prophet of Om
This is reminiscent of Mangara ^^ While it feels White, I think it goes a little overboard and is too generous since it doesn’t have any restriction attached. I wouldn’t bet that this will never happen in official MTG either, but I’d expect this to be at least 6- or 7-mana (or in a future where the power creep has gone even more out of hand). I don’t get the Protection from Lands from a flavour or mechanical perspective, why it this here? Last little note, the Mangara templating feels quite jarring on this card. Technically, it does allow it to scale in multiplayer games, but I think going for the usual “Whenever a creature attacks you” would make this much cleaner.
Basin Scout
I believe the mechanic would be fine as a White card in the sense that it only draws you a single card — though in a way that’s specific enough not to be considered a cantrip — and is very close to what the Explore mechanic from Ixalan would do in White as well. However, the land focus gives a very green vibe. Barring some place-specific shenanigans (looking at you, Zendikar) I think it doesn’t feel very White and might benefit from caring only about Plains for instance.
Abettor of the Weak
A nice variation on the white balance theme. I especially enjoy the symmetry between the creature and card advantage ability, which really sells the concept. It’s very reminiscent of Linvala, switching life gain for card draw, but I like the fact that instead it always trigger for you so it toggles between catching up and group hug. I have the tiniest bemol, which is that the stats and tokens feel a little underwhelming and, even though the card couldn’t be called underpowered stricto sensu, I think the design is interesting enough that you could have pushed for something slightly more exciting — especially with the group hug safeguard.
The Shifting Sands
There’s definitely an interesting story in there. It’s basically a Settle the Wreckage except it draws cards instead of fetching lands. I like this concept, but I think the artifact rider feels weird and makes the card too swingy. At 5-mana against an opponent, it’s not that exciting, to be honest. At 8-mana on your own board, you’d better win the game on the spot with some artifact combo for it to be worthy. I think it would just be more interesting as a simpler 4-mana card without the artifact thing. Also, on a side note, to cast spells as you draw them you need to reveal them first so the templating of the artifact ability is a bit off.
Scholar of Darkness
I like that it feels very White in a flavourful way. However, I believe it would be broken in a dedicated tribal deck. Putting this in a vampire or zombie deck with a bit of mill would probably draw you dozens of cards, which is too much. I think it should only work as a hate card, but then it should care about something less specific, like black creatures in general. In addition, there’s a slight templating issue, it should be “is put into a graveyard from anywhere”.
Dwarven Bookeeper
The life gain and artifact hate feels like something a modern set would realistically do to implement white card draw, so the concept is realistic. However, “Sacrifice a Treasure: Draw a card” is an extremely potent ability (see Treasure Cove) so putting this in a 2-mana creature would be completely broken I’m afraid. There is also a slight templating issue with the first ability, those two triggers actually can’t go together, you would need two separate abilities to do that.
Whispering Ward
I really like this design, it’s borrowing a lot from how Green usually handles this kind of things, but I think it’s still part of the hybrid design space between those two colours and the non-White clause was a nice touch! My only little bemol would be that giving protection from a colour to all your creatures is a very strong ability since it can make them unblockable, so I think it needs a high mana cost attached to its activation, or at the very least prevent them from dealing damage.
Angel of Providence
The card could use some polishing, an obvious problem being that the text goes over the black border — I assume the first ability says “draw a card” unless you’ve used Arabic numbers in there, the abilities are in the wrong order (keywords go before ETB abilities), there are 10 lines of text without spacing between the abilities, etc. For the design itself, you usually don’t want to mix two different kinds of counters together. In this case, the card could have done the same thing by counting the +1/+1 counters instead of adding labor counters in the mix. Caring about life gain feels like a pretty White way to draw card and at 8-mana it’s ok if the ability is a bit on the broken side. Overall, the card is really complicated and would benefit from focusing on one cool idea at a time.
Blessed Lightbringer
This ability is a classic monoWhite trigger and seems like a realistic shot at how WOTC would implement more card draw in White in the future. I don’t think the 1 life is particularly needed since you’ve already gained at least 4 this turn; Because there’s nothing super original going on with the card, I’d aim at the cleanest possible template to leverage the simplicity of it.
Lay to Rest
A nice common making use of the canonical group hug white card draw. Destroying a Legendary creature feels very specific though and I don’t think this is the kind of spell you would consider using on your own permanents, but I get that in a dedicated set à la Dominaria it could theoretically be a thing. I would have considered making either the scry or draw conditional and the other one always happen, just so it’s not a Divine Verdict so often.
The Other’s Tale
The concept is interesting and pushes for an original theme, but I believe the card is way undercosted. The fact that it’s so cheap AND repeatable is also a huge concern to me. In addition, having two creatures that don’t share a creature type is arguably easier than having two creatures that share a creature type. So, I think this is too generous by a wide margin.
Flee to Victory
The concept of exchanging an attack against resources is definitely interesting and I see how it would feel White. Removing creatures from combat is a bit rules-intensive for common though, and I don’t think the card works as you would need to add restrictions on when to cast this. Also, if you remove a creature from combat, it means damage hasn’t happened yet so the last ability cannot ever trigger. In addition, the card is a bit close to a cantrip, though I think the concept in itself makes it just specific enough, but the effect is so weak that I don’t think it would be worth a slot outside of unfun combos that would want free spells that do nothing à la Manamorphose.
Faithful Looting
There is a nice concept in there, the fact that you would basically skip your turn would definitely balance the fact that you get to draw two cards for one mana in exchange. In most cases though, it would be a straight-up white Divination; However, the fact that you need to cast it as your last spell of the turn instead of your first as usual is definitely an intriguing proposition of gameplay.
Blooming Light
This is a really complicated way of templating this effect. Why not add the 1 mana to the mana cost? Why would I cast this spell if I don’t want to pay the 1 mana? The fact that this counts the number of W in your mana pool so you don’t actually use them for the spell is interesting but really confusing as well. Overall, it’s a really convoluted “XW – Draw X-N cards” type of spell, which feels like it breaks the colour pie on principle since that’s supposed to stay a monoblue effect.
In Search of Heroes
An enchantment version of Inspiring Commander sounds like a safe bet for white card draw and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar happen one day in an official set. That being said, the fact that it’s cheaper and immune to creature removal is a really beneficial trade from the 6-mana 1/4 body it initially was. I don’t think it’s outside the spectrum of possible — especially with WOTC’s recent liking in openly broken cards — and this is no Great Henge, but it’s still very pushed, in my opinion.
Blast of True Devotion
It’s an original idea I haven’t seen in other entries yet. I like the concept of tying White card draw to a removal spell. It’s expensive enough that I wouldn’t mind the efficient card draw, since you could argue at this price even colourless could do something similar. Caring about the toughness of the creature like this also feels like a pretty White theme (you could reasonably consider targeting your own walls with it), I like that concept. It also reminds me a bit of how Green recently got a boost in card drawing and does big draw spells through “Draw cards equal to your creature’s power” abilities now. I don’t think the additional cost is needed though, it’s a 6-mana targeted removal, I think it’s expensive enough as it is.
Madrek, Lord of the Bank
It’s a funny combination of abilities and is very flavourful from a mechanical perspective. However, I think the first ability is completely broken. Having the opponent gain life is cute and tells a good story with the second ability, but it’s not really a cost per se, it will have close to no impact on the game compared to drawing at least one additional card per round. I like the second ability, it won’t matter often but it might yield a bit of value from time to time and decks that pay life tend to be more aggressive, so the life gain might actually be relevant.
Blessings of the Patron
The last ability is reminiscent of Dawn of Hope, so it feels White in principle. However, Dawn of Hope was at the very limit of what’s acceptable for White card draw; Even though this costs more mana to cast, the 1-mana activation is probably a bit over the line, in my opinion. In addition, both the first abilities are mistemplated. The first ability should go “If… instead”, like Angel of Vitality. The second ability loops itself, reminder texts isn’t meant to precise how you want the ability to happen, it just explains what the non-italicised text does, and this one loops indefinitely. You need “for the first time each turn” instead
Divine Destiny
I find the intent of the first ability confusing, do you mean that you add Scry 2 after drawing the cards if you cast this in response to the opponent playing the chosen spell? I don’t think Scry 2 is worth all those complications, I like the concept, but you’d need an actual reward to make this worth it. On that note, the baseline of this spell is “2WWW Instant — Draw 1 card”, which is not going to cut it in any deck, especially at rare. The most powerful version of the spell is “2WW Instant — Draw 2 cards, scry 2” if you’ve foretold it and the opponent plays a specific spell, which is a worst Behold the Multiverse, a blue common. In parallel, that’s not how Foretell works; Because you don’t reveal the card you foretell, it cannot trigger an ability as you foretell it. So the card has a cute concept going on but is just not worth it — and I think like I’m pilling on, sorry, but you need to write the number of cards you draw in letters, use Arabic numbers when talking about life and damage only.
Dogma of the Exalted
There’s a lot going on with this card, some of it is interesting, but the whole package doesn’t feel particularly cohesive, in my opinion. I like the first chapter, temporarily giving up combatants sounds like a realistic White way to draw cards. The second chapter is flavourful but doesn’t work the way it’s templating. You’d need to check the graveyard and battlefield in separate sentences for it to work, which is not going to be compatible with the amount of space allowed on a Saga. The last chapter really goes off the rail though, both “if all prior conditions” and “tapped by this” don’t work in the rules for multiple reasons, and the pot-pourri of keywords at the end feel s really jarring — the City’s Blessing? Why?? O_O Also, the ability doesn’t untap the creatures so they gain exalted and lifelink but remain tapped
Uh. Yeah. Favorites time.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/kaigan-of-kher-keep
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/friendly-glades
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ferocious-finisher
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/merrow-spellscout
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/hungry-beeble IT WANTS YOUR TOES
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/crystal-caverns-4
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tarqes-highmage-of-winter
Thanks again!
Haha, it got me pretty surprised to see that on there, not gonna lie x) The problem with granting the City's Blessing like this is that it also undercuts the whole mini-game about reaching ten permanents, though. If there had been a card in Rivals of Ixalan that just said "You get the City's Blessing", it would have lost its flavour, I'd rather have an ability that creates a lot of tokens for instance.
@DrakeGladis
Well... SURPRISE! xD
I favourited your cards ;p
https://www.mtgcardsmith.com/user/Jadefire/cards
You asked a question in one of your comments so I'll answer that and provide some additional thoughts:
Brilliant Standard
I agree that the card is wordy, given that the target-choosing ability is worded very specifically in Oracle, the top half of the textbox was non-optional. The card-drawing portion of the card could be more straightforward and less gimmicky. I have a version of the card that just says, "whenever a Flagbearer you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, draw two cards" which could've saved a line to space out the equip ability. I specifically made the card an equipment and a tribal artifact to not stray too close to Coalition Flag. I also wanted it to be more reusable than an aura (I was looking to do a cross between Coalition Flag and something slightly less broken than Skullclamp). Giving the card the Flagbearer creature type is just fun because it means it can Spellskite targeted artifact destruction all by itself without having to be equipped to anything.
Resourceful Baroness
I wasn't aware that caring about land drops was specifically a Zendikar thing. It just made sense that, since comparative land count is the condition for drawing, the trigger would revolve around that balance shifting. As for making the card cost only 1 mana, I thought it would be too difficult to meet the condition, or too costly to tempo to maintain it later into the midgame, to require a higher mana cost. The scenario of the card yielding an additional draw every turn starting on turn 2 isn't possible since you have to be at least two lands behind your opponent for the draw to happen (i.e., after you play your land you still need to be behind). You'd have to be on the draw and play Resourceful Baroness using a Mox or some other nonland white mana and also decline your first land drop to make that happen. I do see that fetchlands can get a double trigger from the card but, once again, that's coming from a position of being two or more land drops behind.
Call on the Divine
Since the card draw isn't unconditional (it requires the right creature being on the battlefield and can also be fizzled if anything happens to the creature) I felt the card needed some additional utility to justify its existence. +1/+2 is a very common boost in white and helps fulfill the card's requirements (the protection from creatures wasn't part of the original idea but I felt it was appropriate given the art I used). The flashback is there not to leverage the pump aspect of the spell for its own sake but to make the card not useless for card drawing if you only have a creature with a one-point difference between its power and toughness, as long as you have 2WWWW. The first casting of the card wouldn't yield any draws but would setup the second casting on the same turn. I was cognizant of the potential for abuse, which is why I made the flashback cost as high as I thought was reasonable. To make it any higher mana-wise would severely impede its use in the above scenario.
For Basin Scout, my idea for the card draw was from a flavour standpoint -- white is always right about what they do, so will be more than happy to declare it to others. The land thing was something I thought of as specific to the scout? But that might be a bit weird. I tacked that on since I didn't want it to be just a creature with "etb, draw a card and reveal it" (though it might have worked).
I initially wanted Abettor of the Weak to also consider life totals (e.g. gain 3 life), but there wasn't enough space on the card since I wanted the reminder text. Giving the creature itself higher stats and producing larger/more(/both) tokens seem like good improvements.
For the favs, just fav both my entries and three other cards.
I favourited your most recent cards ^^
However! I will say in defense of my card haha it was 6cmc on the opponents turn (even more than you had thought) BUT it's 2 less on one's own turn, not more
again thanks and super glad to be included, i found some favorites here. just had to clear my name of course!
(i don't know if it makes the card more interesting tho lol :P)
Ah yes, I totally misread that for some reason, my bad >.<
Well it certainly makes the card an actual option to cast on your turn compared to when I though it was 8-mana xD But I don't think it changes the feedback I had earlier: You're going to give your board away, you need to be able to hit a combo and win when you cast it, or you just screw yourself. Having it a 4-mana does mean it's more realistic to pull it off, but I don't think it's a particularly fun perspective of gameplay as it's basically encouraging a one-turn kill based on sacrificing as many creatures as you can in the hope of randomly hitting the right artifact(s) from the top of your library. Also, there is still this weird mix of a removal card and a combo card that makes both halves awkwardly costed. I think what you have is actually two cards smooshed together that would be cleaner and more interesting if they were separate: a blue or red sorcery that warps your creatures into artifacts from the top of your library, and a white Settle the Wreckage that draws cards.
Yeah, but I don't think Consecrated Sphinx should be a role model for White card draw x) It's a really strong card that defines the best drawing colour in MTG. White is usually more about closing a gap in ressources, group hug draw, or drawing when you do something that's very specific to White like gaining life or playing auras. This lets you draw at least one additional card every turn in a non-conditional one-sided way, I think there would be a discussion about the card being too strong or not in Blue, so I believe it's definitely out of bounds for White.