Hey! Sorry I never got back around to a little response/write-up like normal until now!
Eathouria was my second custom set, and as such is the set I've spent the second longest amount of time developing. It is an exile matters set, designed back when I didn't know any better, and themed around dreams and nightmares. Due to the unique environment and setting, the cards, mechanics, and flavor are tailored very specifically to work within the universe of the set. With the overarching "dreams become reality" thing, the idea of fantasize being an exile threshold is meant to represent dreaming enough to easily shape the reality around you--and thus your cards gets stronger. In a similar vein, the main appeal of a card like Enlightened Sovereign shifts off of its Johnny-aimed alternate win condition, and toward the fact that it is an engine for getting cards into exile, which in this format, especially limited, can generate a lot of effective card advantage. The unique limited environment recontextualizes a lot of designs that would otherwise seems lackluster.
All that being said, Eathouria gets extremely problematic as soon as you consider it in relation to other sets. Multiple cards in other sets in the constructed environment it was meant for had to be changed to not break or too easily enable the set's other mechanics. Like I said, at the time I made the original version of the set, I didn't know any better. Nowadays, while I do still like the set as a standalone piece, I see it as flawed in the larger scope of the game.
There is some unmentioned flavor behind Jin. Jin is a singer, who entrances the crowd while his gang of raccoons rob them dry. Now that I think about it, A more flavorfully mechanic to give him would be flanking, because he flanks enemies with his gang. The treasure represents the robbing of the crowd, and him needing to be tapped is a symbol for him being busy singing. I was very unclear on his story, so that's my bad.
@hileandr Yeah, I figured these cards wouldn't be super well-graded. Eras were my attempt at making symmetrical effects that would scale up in an interesting way in multiplayer games. I love symmetrical effects, they're a very challenging design space. I tried pushing the Era mechanic to its limits, and it became clear that there were some flaws. You helped put those flaws into words, thanks for that!
I was wondering if a more experienced player could point out some actual use cases for these cards, but it didn't turn out that way. Part of the problem is that multiplayer games typically have enormous card pools so you can just play the best version of any effect rather than playing my intentionally situational nonsense cards. It's just very hard to make symmetrical effects that are enough in your favor to offset the casting cost etc.
I specifically intended Age Of Champions to counter wide token decks, since it essentially becomes an asymmetrical board wipe. It would also have a weird land destruction interaction with decks that turn lands into creatures, since all those 4/4 forests would now be legendary... Hmm. How would this work with face-down creatures (e.g. creatures with Morph)? I don't really know.
@hileandr Just making sure you know I have these I would like reviewed. No rush. Also I'm gonna change things a bit for my next batch with some commons, so I hope you'll like those.
@hileandr Well RIP Milina's Revolution, lol. Anyways, I should start out by explaining what is going on here. Gakuren is a plane that focuses on a number of Mihoyo's games, specifically Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai Gakuren / Gun Girl Z (Also where the plane's name comes from), Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. Its a Kaldheim like plane, but is structured around a tree which is known as the imaginary tree. Each of the different featured games is treated as a separate "reality" or as they are known in Honkai Impact 3rd, Bubble Universes. Story wise, the bubble universes for Honkai Gakuren, Honkai Impact 3rd (likely also the one Honkai Star Rail will take place in), and Genshin Impact are about to collide into each other and this would cause the plane to be destroyed.
Card wise, many of these cards are meant to feel like their respective characters or events that occur. Also, the Honkai super type is necessary as there is an additional game state effect from building up Honkai counters which is known as the Global Honkai Level. A basic summary of this is that upon a player having a total of at least 30 Honkai counters for the first time in a game, each honkai card becomes easier to cast (- one mana) and honkai creatures become stronger, +1/+1 while non-honkai cards become more expensive (+1 mana) and non-honkai creatures get weaker (-1/-1).
Also, a note on Otto, Schicksal Overseer. I had so much text on him that I had to slim down the original concept (which also prevented the listing of Evergreen abilities)
And to wrap up, I completely understand why Wizards will never do a 3rd party set. Making this set was hell in a handbasket and there are cards that do not fit with there color identity.
@TheGamingBolasChannel I find that designing good Reference cards is sometimes more difficult than creating your own ideas. There are a lot of traps and pitfalls involved.
MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Comments
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/cover-the-ground-in-blood
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/lultimo-squalo
Translation from italian:
Bloodthirst 1
Last Shark can't attack or block unless you've drawn two or more cards this turn.
it seemed impossible ...
but the wave of the ocean
split open and it appeared
Eathouria was my second custom set, and as such is the set I've spent the second longest amount of time developing. It is an exile matters set, designed back when I didn't know any better, and themed around dreams and nightmares. Due to the unique environment and setting, the cards, mechanics, and flavor are tailored very specifically to work within the universe of the set. With the overarching "dreams become reality" thing, the idea of fantasize being an exile threshold is meant to represent dreaming enough to easily shape the reality around you--and thus your cards gets stronger. In a similar vein, the main appeal of a card like Enlightened Sovereign shifts off of its Johnny-aimed alternate win condition, and toward the fact that it is an engine for getting cards into exile, which in this format, especially limited, can generate a lot of effective card advantage. The unique limited environment recontextualizes a lot of designs that would otherwise seems lackluster.
All that being said, Eathouria gets extremely problematic as soon as you consider it in relation to other sets. Multiple cards in other sets in the constructed environment it was meant for had to be changed to not break or too easily enable the set's other mechanics. Like I said, at the time I made the original version of the set, I didn't know any better. Nowadays, while I do still like the set as a standalone piece, I see it as flawed in the larger scope of the game.
@Ashdust_II
@Globert-the-Martian
@ShadowReign
@TheGamingBolasChannel
I'll try to get to them soon. I also am way overdue for reviewing @Suleman's latest cards.
BONUS CONTENT:
Mystery box ranking challenge!
Wow Cover the Ground in Blood is bad.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/cadstar369/sets/66729
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/monolith-alignment
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/no-guts-no-glory-1
Okay - let's go with 3 this time.
@TheGamingBolasChannel I'll have yours ready tomorrow.
@EisenKreutzer absolutely!
Yeah, I figured these cards wouldn't be super well-graded. Eras were my attempt at making symmetrical effects that would scale up in an interesting way in multiplayer games. I love symmetrical effects, they're a very challenging design space. I tried pushing the Era mechanic to its limits, and it became clear that there were some flaws. You helped put those flaws into words, thanks for that!
I was wondering if a more experienced player could point out some actual use cases for these cards, but it didn't turn out that way. Part of the problem is that multiplayer games typically have enormous card pools so you can just play the best version of any effect rather than playing my intentionally situational nonsense cards. It's just very hard to make symmetrical effects that are enough in your favor to offset the casting cost etc.
I specifically intended Age Of Champions to counter wide token decks, since it essentially becomes an asymmetrical board wipe. It would also have a weird land destruction interaction with decks that turn lands into creatures, since all those 4/4 forests would now be legendary... Hmm. How would this work with face-down creatures (e.g. creatures with Morph)? I don't really know.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
Also I'm gonna change things a bit for my next batch with some commons, so I hope you'll like those.
@ShadowReign
Thanks for the reminder! Those definitely got lost. I will get to them, I promise
Card wise, many of these cards are meant to feel like their respective characters or events that occur. Also, the Honkai super type is necessary as there is an additional game state effect from building up Honkai counters which is known as the Global Honkai Level. A basic summary of this is that upon a player having a total of at least 30 Honkai counters for the first time in a game, each honkai card becomes easier to cast (- one mana) and honkai creatures become stronger, +1/+1 while non-honkai cards become more expensive (+1 mana) and non-honkai creatures get weaker (-1/-1).
I added in a number of cards that require or can give bonuses when paying with honkai counters: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/cecilia-schariac-stigmata?list=set&set=65241, https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/soulium-queening?list=set&set=65241, https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/honkai-disintegration?list=set&set=65241, https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/meis-thundering-slash?list=set&set=65241, https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/sus-glimpse-at-fate?list=set&set=65241
Also, a note on Otto, Schicksal Overseer. I had so much text on him that I had to slim down the original concept (which also prevented the listing of Evergreen abilities)
And to wrap up, I completely understand why Wizards will never do a 3rd party set. Making this set was hell in a handbasket and there are cards that do not fit with there color identity.
I find that designing good Reference cards is sometimes more difficult than creating your own ideas. There are a lot of traps and pitfalls involved.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/shin-godzilla-amorphous
Can ya make a review of these cards?
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ryykor-brutal-despot
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tamper-with-fate
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/avlor-vengeful-revenant-1
Reminder: There are no rarities because the set was designed for constructed EDH
@cadstar369 (2 videos)
I unfortunately didn't have time to do more than these two, but I will continue to do these.
Urgnathkavar, the Morbid
Diligent Harvesters
Night Elf
Eye Stealing Squirrel
Gunslinger's Revolver
Plague Physician
Bounty Collector