What makes a custom card good?

CorwinnnCorwinnn
in Custom Card Discussion
What is it that makes a custom card good to you? I think it's different for everyone, but at the same time I think it all boils down to the one true deciding factor... would you play the card?

But what is it that makes a custom card good for you?

- Color
- Abilities
- Type
- Balance
- Art
- Uniqueness

Share some of your thoughts about what you look for in a top notch custom card!

Comments

  • NoobplayzgamesNoobplayzgames
    edited March 2015
    You are very active, also I posted a comment on your newest card in the Hellfall, but it seems to still need approval so be expecting that soon!

    But what I have to say to the question is:
    Art, abilities and creativeness. Anyone can put up a 1UU counter with boring art, or a 5BR Dragon with Flying and a poke ability, but what really gets me are those 1G Squirrels, so random, yet so intriguing and fits into the game very well.
  • TomigonTomigon
    "Would you play against this card?" is also a good thinking for balancing the card power! :D
  • ChargingBadgerChargingBadger
    I like cards that have custom abilities, good balance, but most of all uniqueness. I look for a card that is simple, not like vanilla or anything, just not a huge block of text.
  • MrRansomMrRansom
    I like custom abilities if only because they demonstrate a line of thought and creativity that can't be expressed in other way within the context of MTG.

    I also appreciate elegance which, for me, requires some level of brevity (though I, personally, rarely manage to achieve such a characteristic).

    "Original" art is a nice aspect of custom cards. By this I do not mean art made by the card designer necessarily, rather art that has not previously been used for a WOTC MTG card.
  • PolanetyPolanety
    It's all about the flavor for me. Balance is important, but flavor matters just as much for me. What I appreciate about custom cards is the fact that it allows you to create elegant and creative new cards. Also, being able to add in art is really slick!
  • Suicidal_DeitySuicidal_Deity
    What makes a card good? Everything. A good ability can be bogged down by costing or colour issues. Everything needs to work to make it good. We favourite what we like, and we like for countless reasons, but me liking your card doesn't make it good, you liking my card doesn't make it good. It means we like them. Making good cards is really hard to do, and most people aren't great at doing it. And, usually, the rarity compounds the difficulty. Commons are easy to make, and easy to make good. Hard to make unique and fun though. Mythics are incredibly hard to make well, and usually need the most tweaking out of anything.

    I am a prime example of flavour outweighing the mechanics of a card, and usually people will overlook subtle nuances and imperfections because of our enjoyment, but again, that doesn't make my cards good. I haven't made a ton of 'good' cards, which to me translates into desire. A desire to play it because of the potential, a desire to slip it into a deck because of the combos it offers, a good card makes you smile with anticipation.

    Powerful but not over powered, colour balance, synergy, everything needs to work.

    Wizards or the Coast doesn't even make a ton of good cards, and they're professionals, ha ha.
  • CallousCallous
    Bunch of good stuff has already been said, so I'm not going to bother, but here's my perspective on things.

    Whenever you make a card, ask yourself "Is this card fun for both parties involved/Does this card breed good gameplay"?

    If no, should probably reconsider what you're doing. This is obviously hard to argue for with vanilla creature and many simple creatures with only evergreen keywords, but it's a great rule of thumb, especially for custom mechanics and cards.

    Some people would argue that cards like "Cancel" are not fun, but it makes the game more dynamic, since people now have to do a bit of guesswork and be crafty, playing around cards.

    A card like Counterbalance: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/cards/coldsnap/12814-counterbalance - is very much the definition of unfun. Sure it's somewhat fun for the guy who plays in his CounterTop deck, but it's hell for anyone involved. Or at least that's how I feel whenever I play against a CounterTop deck - It's fun the first 5 times, then it becomes a tedious grind.
  • 6tennis6tennis
    You have to consider all the possibilities when playing with that card. If I slap down a big fat mythic dragon, it's gonna paint a huge target on my head. At the same time, I'm gonna get more power. So it's a matter of pros and cons and picking which ones are more important than the others.
  • zachhammer-huberzachhammer-huber
    I would have to say art, ability and creativeness, I mean it also has to be realistic. Check out my new challenge, cool abilities challenge!!
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    Very interesting!
  • Suicidal_DeitySuicidal_Deity
    Indeed.
  • RECurtisRECurtis
    edited August 2015
    It does kind of bum me out when I see good cards with ridiculously low cost, completely unbalanced and seems more like "Mary Sue" of cards. Yet I'm sure even some of my cards aren't quite up to balance. I can deal with a lack of uniqueness because sometimes you need something basic to even out the incredible.
This discussion has been closed.