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Atlantis-Themed Set
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Outside of mechanics, I have a few thoughts:
- There could be primary creature types, but tribal themes aren't required. Like how trolls in Kaldheim had almost no tribal synergies whatsoever, but you can still tell what cards are related to trolls.
- I think that creature types could be focused on in two-color pairs, but maybe some creatures of that type could be in other colors. For example, Pirates could mostly be in Rakdos, but there could be a few pirates with an undead theme in Dimir.
I do have a few ideas for color pairs. Some of these might overlap too much, but again, these are just ideas:
-Red+Black: Pirate aggro (Putting your creatures in danger for big damage)
-Blue+Black: Undead self-mill
-Green+Black: Sea Warlock Rituals (Paying costs to summon creatures like krakens)
-Blue+Green: Big Sea Monsters (Kraken, Serpent, Octopus, Leviathan), or small sea creatures (Fish, Starfish, Jellyfish, Crab). Green could be Merfolk's tertiary color.
-White+Blue: Merfolk Tappy Tap
-White+Red: Human aggro (Just go wide with tokens)
-Red+Green: Volcanic Elementals (I don't have a strategy idea just yet)
I don't quite have ideas for other colors just yet (that could at least have good art), but I do like some of these color pair ideas.
In regards to Dive, I also realized that it would also require a lot of physical manipulation of cards. Maybe it would be best to scrap the bottom of deck idea, and just go with self-mill instead (I think milling cards still has a similar feel to dive, so I don't think it's that big of a deal).
How about something like:
Sink - If (2? 3? 4? I'm not 100% sure yet) or more cards have been put into your graveyard this turn, [Effect].
This was just an idea that I had for a Dimir self-mill/undead effect:
(Note: If this seems fine, the effect will probably be put on a nonlegendary rare or mythic instead, but I like this art so much that I just had to use it for now.)
Bottom of the library as a representation of the deep ocean can be done in many ways. Just a single card saying "put target creature at the bottom of their owner's library" being first level, all the way to basing the entire set on the idea. There's a lot of room in between, you don't need a whole mechanic about it ^^
I like the idea of reanimating big sea monsters, it feels like a mysterious entity emerging from the abyss, Cthulu-style. This play style really resonates with my perception of a sea world, for some reason x)
I think that a library-matters set could be really fun. Maybe one aggro archetype summons low mana cost creatures from the top few cards of your library?
If I'm going this route, then maybe Sink could be something like this instead to focus more on the library:
Sink - If _ or more cards left your library this turn, [effect]. (A card leaves your library when it moves to a zone other than your library.)
In terms of how each color could achieve Sink, Sultai colors could focus on drawing and milling your library, and Boros colors could focus on exiling cards from your library and summoning small creatures from your library.
I know that sink effects will probably avoid effects that interact with your library since that would be doing what sink is already trying to achieve (Scry might be fine, but I'm gonna look at other effects for now). However, I do think that looking at existing raid, morbid, and other small "sidequest" effects might give some good inspiration to what type of effects that sink should give.
Most of my mechanic ideas have been some type of keyword ability that evokes the feeling of these elemental creatures exploding/erupting like a volcano (One of my ideas was keywording effects on cards like Footlight Fiend, another was basically the enrage mechanic). However, I feel like most of these mechanic ideas have been a better fit in Rakdos, rather than Gruul, or just repeat an existing effect. Any suggestions for a volcanic mechanic (Hey, that rhymes!) are more than welcome.
I also feel like there should be some other mechanic that gives an additional way to make cards leave your library. While looking through @Arceus8523 's sets, Scrycast really piqued my interest (Scrycast [Cost] - (If you see this card while scrying, you may reveal it and cast it by paying [cost])). Maybe having a mechanic like "[Name] [Cost] - If you see this card while scrying, you may reveal it and put it into your hand by paying [Cost]. You may only activate one [Name] effect each time you scry" might be an interesting way to turn scry into another way to activate sink. Or, if they're ok with Scrycast being in this set (Credit for the mechanic would go to Arceus), then maybe Scrycast could be used, as long as there's enough design space that doesn't plagarize the effects of existing cards with Scrycast.
To Arceus: I'll just formally ask here for permission to use your scrycast mechanic. I understand if you don't want me to use this mechanic, and I don't want to be taking any ideas that you may have for the future of this mechanic. So especially if you have plans for Scrycast, feel free to say no.
Scrycast isn't even mine. It's an official mechanic. I believe that more or less means you can do what you want with it. Regardless, don't worry about overlapping/drawing designs from Bafflem, you're totally fine to do that!
Oh. I haven't looked at all of the playtest mechanics in a while, so I just assumed that it was yours. My bad!
This one is basically a fusion of Worn Powerstone and Sol Ring. Probably would need a bit of a balancing change, but I think that it could be a fun rare/mythic. (I don't know how to fix the reminder text.)
My last card idea, for now, is probably off on the wording, but I don't know.
I've also been trying to come up with a name for this plane. I'm thinking something like "Nerantlis" (Refining on the name would happen, I'm terrible when it comes to naming things). "Ner" coming from the Greek word for water, which is pronounced neró (I don't trust google translate, but other sources do say that's how you pronounce the word). "Antlis" obviously sounds like Atlantis.
I do have a name idea for the set as a whole, but I think that it might be a good idea to wait on naming the set until the mood of the set is apparent.
- Another Scry-based mechanic: I do like scrycast, but it doesn't really thematically fit, and since I wouldn't be able to just change the name of the mechanic to better fit the theme, I thought that maybe an alternative could work. The two ideas that I had were a draw version and a mill version, but there aren't really any mechanics that mention another mechanic, so I'm leaning away from a scry-based mechanic (There isn't a mechanic that specifically mentions when you counter a spell, only mechanics that counter spells).
- Ripple (or at something similar): Ripple does sound like it thematically fits, but after reading the article on the coldsnap mechanics, it seems like Ripple wouldn't be good at any rarity other than common.
- An effect similar to something like Squadron Hawk and how "Partner with" was used in Battlebond: It would allow you to search your library for a card with the same name. I think the same problem that Ripple had about rarity would also apply to this.
- Cascade: I think this thematically fits with things like giant tidal waves and storms out at sea. I'm not sure how much design space cascade has, but I think that it could be a strong contender for a possible mechanic. I'll try to make a few cards, just to see if there could be enough design space.
By the way, it's totally ok to rename Scrycast, it's not even a real mechanic, the Mystery Boosters playtest cards are meant to be goofy or have flavourless names on purpose.
I could see some interesting and simple concepts synergising with scrycast:
I do think that scrycast is a pretty interesting mechanic, so I definitely think that it's possible to retool. Having it work as any "look" effect seems fine to me, I'm pretty sure that it's possible to mention that it can't be through searching.
Some rather basic effects:
To be fair, I'm not sure it opens up that much more design space outside of "impulse-like" cards.
If you want to use something like "Whenever CARDNAME attacks, look at the top N cards of your library", you might as well just use scry. And at this point, it might be worth it to just replace impulse-type cards with something that says "Scry 3, then draw a card" for instance. Of note, sticking to just scry would open up more specific synergies like the blue vehicle I posted above, so it's definitely also an option to consider.
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If you're confident about the cards-leaving-the-library mechanic, then my first advice would be to start by making a small deck just to test out the mechanic. Find all the synergies you can find, maybe put some Scrycast in there just to see. That's the best way to find the mechanics the set needs; the set won't be as cohesive if you try to put random mechanics together just because you like them individually.
- There could be an effect like Dewdrop Spy's, where you could also play the card you look at if it has Scrycast/Resurface. Probably would be a black effect instead of blue.
- Effects like Discombobulate or Sensei's Divining Top, which reorder the top few cards of your deck. This is basically scry, so this type of effect specifically probably wouldn't be used, but it's just a thought.
- Something like this cycle of spirits from Kamigawa.
- Or, instead of something like the Kamigawa spirits, generic effects that look at the top card of your library with an additional effect.
- I'm pretty sure that even an effect like Precognition Field would work.
I'm guessing that using a fair amount of these effects would mean that scry probably wouldn't get much synergies to itself, and would probably only get one or two cards like that vehicle. But this doesn't mean that there would be very few cards with scry. I think that making the effect a bit more general gives those cards much more flexibility than only relating it to scry.
However, I'm not closed to the idea of making it scry-based and creating some scry synergies, I'm just leaning towards the generalized version for now. I can try to think of some cards that could synergize with scry, such as Flamespeaker Adept, to see if focusing only on scry is a better option. Maybe I can make one deck with looking at cards generally, and the other with scry-synergies in mind. I'll try to playtest over my April Break next week.
Having a black effect that allows you to scrycast from the opponent's library would be complicated as you can't rely on the opponent playing the scrycast mechanic themselves, it would probably end up as a regular Gonti-style card if you tried to template it properly.
Also, would it make sense to avoid making a Sensei's Divining Top or Discombobulate effect? I can't really remember any recent cards that reorder the top few cards of your deck without the use of scry...
I don't think that scry necessarily replaces an effect like Explorer's Scope, as we have seen cards with its effect rather recently.
I think that some card could definitely have this effect, and maybe there could be at least a cycle of cards that have "Look at the top card of your library, you may reveal it. If you do, [effect]". The [effect] would probably be related to something like the revealed card's mana value or card type.
I'm not sure if all of these count as impulse-effects, but Ikoria actually had a fair amount of them, and it wasn't really a library-matters set. Since this set is a library-matters set, I feel like this many impulse effects might actually be a good amount to have (except without something broken like Winota).
Even with all of these look effects, I think that scry effects could still be a primary enabler of scrycast. However, I just don't think that there would be much need for effects that specifically care about whenever you scry.
I also want to mention that I think sink is going to be what foretell was to Kaldheim, the mechanic that you'd probably think of first when you think of the set. I think scrycast could be an enabler mechanic for sink, much like how Ingest was an enabler for the Eldrazi Processors, even though there are already ways to exile your opponent's cards. Even though a color like white doesn't have too much card advantage, there are still scry and other effects that look at the top few cards of your library, and I think that scrycast could help give colors like white another way to enable sink, other than just drawing cards. (Maybe scrycast becomes the primary mechanic and sink is just a payoff mechanic, but I think that scrycast works mainly as an enabler.)
E.g.:
I feel like keeping the effect of scrycast to mostly or exclusively to scry might actually be a good idea. Sink already needs multiple ways for cards to leave the deck, and I think that wanting scrycast to have its own thing going on as well might make things a bit too complicated. I originally intended to have Scrycast as just another way to make sink work, so maybe it would be best to keep it that way. (Like how serran life in Rezatta is an enabler for renewal)
I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory. Can slightly turn scry into mill.
This is definitely unbalanced, but I think that maybe there can be a cycle of enchantments that give a bonus whenever you scry.
Maybe there can be a cycle of these cards, where you technically can play them in a monocolored deck, but they actually work best in a multicolored one.
So, a priori, Sink would work great as a five-colour glue mechanic because it lets you tie each colour's unique way of having cards leaving the library into one cohesive theme. Now, you don't want all the mechanics in your set to be in all five colours or each colour is going to feel a bit too similar to the others. This depends on what the mechanic is doing (typically if you have a "set glue mechanic" you want it everywhere), but as a general rule restricting a mechanic to 3-colours is the way to go. Scrycast looks like a mechanic that would work wonders in a three-colours combination as a way to help differentiate those colours from the others in the way they enable Sink.
On another topic, one thing that's especially important in any set but even more in a custom set is going to be the wow factor. You'll want to think of a mechanic that's really pushing some new boundaries so the set really feels unique. Right now, I'd say sink is tame (which is fine as a glue mechanic) and scrycast is original but not "wow factor" level. So it would be a good idea to work on something really daring next as the further you go in the set, the more restrictions you'll put on yourself and it is already very challenging to find an interesting and original mechanic without restrictions.
Sink {cost} (Whenever you discard, you may pay {cost}. If you do, look at the bottom card of your library.)
@TheDukeOfPork I feel fairly good about where sink is at right now. It asks for something that is pretty feasible and doesn't really require it in a specific way, so any color can achieve it. Since I'm starting to lean away from "bottom of your library" effects, I don't think that an effect that allows you to know the bottom card of your library will really be necessary.
STRIXHAVEN: Introduces learn and lessons, the first mechanic that lets you use your sideboard as a ressource. All five colours have access to it.
KALDHEIM: This one is an oddball. I would argue it has no wow mechanic but technically the novelty mechanic from this set was the introduction of double-faced cards that are creatures/noncreatures. It's in all five colours.
ZENDIKAR RISING: Introduces modal face cards for the first time. It's in all five colours.
IKORIA: This one was a bit crazy as Ikoria is an experiment on how complex WOTC can make a set without it breaking (plot-twist, it did break of all Magic and had to be errataed xD). It introduces Companion, the first mechanic that interacts with your sideboard and also the first mechanic to explore deck building restrictions in black border. But Ikoria also introduces ability counters for the first time. And it also introduces Mutate, which I'm not even going to try to explain in one sentence. Every one of these mechanics is in all five colors. Ikoria is just a bad example to base a custom set on, honestly xD
THEROS BEYOND DEATH: This set is a return set and honestly I don't think it has a wow mechanic (they were mostly counting on nostalgia to hype people). Technically it's returning its novelty mechanics from the past, which were devotion and enchantment-creatures with their own frames. Both are pentacoloured.
ELDRAINE: This set introduces Adventures, a new type of split cards with their own frames. Its in all five colours.
WAR OF THE SPARK: This set introduces planeswalkers with static abilities. They're in all five colours.
Enhance (Transform this card. It remains transformed for the rest of the game.)
Basically, this would be similar to transform/MDFC cards in a way, but with a big difference. You may only cast the front side of the card.
However, once it becomes enhanced, it permanently stays transformed as the other side of the card for the rest of the game. This means that when it goes to the graveyard, it stays the same. Returned to your hand? Stays the same. Exiled? Stays the same. Library? I don't see why it would swap back...
I think that this could be a pretty flexible mechanic, so cards could transform on the battlefield, in your graveyard, and maybe even while on the stack or by an effect that reveals it from your hand.
It would also be possible to have more than just a creature turning into another creature. For example, if a shark pirate planeswalker won't be used, this could be a blue-black legendary creature that turns into a planeswalker. (This definitely should at least be a character. He looks sick, and I currently have found four different pieces of art that I like with him in it.)
Maybe enhance isn't the best word, but I think this mechanic could be a unique way to represent progress/change. I can come up with a few other card concepts for this mechanic if it looks interesting.
Ideally, your novelty mechanic would be tied to the theme of your set. You have a library-focused set, what crazy thing no other set would do but this set is the right place to introduce? Here's an example inspired by Unstable: Creating a second library. Then whenever an effect refers to your library, you get to choose which library you're using for that effect.
And here are some examples of synergistic effects to go with that theme:
- Put all cards from your graveyard into your second library.
- If you would draw a card, you may draw a card from each of your libraries instead.
- Play with the top cards of your libraries revealed.
- Look at the top six cards of your library, put any number of them back in any order and the rest on top of your other library in any order.
- When you have only one library, look at the top card of your library and put it into your second library.