MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
"De-escalate" mechanic: feedback welcome
Hey, fellow cardsmiths!
I've been trying for a year to figure out a way to make a mechanic that discourages my opponents from putting counters on their own creatures, and also punishes them when *I* put counters on their creatures (even buff counters like +1/+1, etc).
I think I've figured it out, but I'm open to feedback.
Originally, my rules text for the mechanic I'm calling "De-escalate" was as follows:
De-escalate -- At the beginning of [phase], if an opponent's creature has [#] or more counters on it, [effect directly related to or by that specific creature].
But it's changed a bit, and here is a cycle of Signpost Uncommons with some examples of what I think will work for each color:
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De-escalate Signpost Uncommon White
{2}{w}
Enchantment
Activated abilities of creatures cost (2) more to activate unless they're mana abilities.
De-escalate -- Activated abilities of creatures with two or more counters on them also cost an additional (1) more to activate for each counter on it, unless they're mana abilities.
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De-escalate Signpost Uncommon Blue
{2}{u}
Enchantment
Creatures can’t attack you unless their controller pays {1} for each creature they control that’s attacking you.
De-escalate -- Creatures with two or more counters on them can’t attack you unless their controller also pays an additional {1} for each counter on it.
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De-escalate Signpost Uncommon Black
{2}{b}
Enchantment
Whenever a creature dies, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)
De-escalate -- Whenever a creature dies, if it had two or more counters on it, its controller loses 1 life and you gain 1 life for each counter on it.
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De-escalate Signpost Uncommon Red
{2}{r}
Enchantment
Whenever a creature without flying attacks you or a planeswalker you control, ~ deals 1 damage to that creature.
De-escalate -- If a creature who takes damage this way has two or more counters on it, ~ also deals an additional 1 damage to that creature for each counter on it.
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De-escalate Signpost Uncommon Green
{2}{g}
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)
De-escalate -- At the beginning of each opponent's endstep, draw X cards, where X is the number of counters put on creatures that opponent controls this turn.
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Thanks for your feedback!
- TerryTags
Comments
Deescalate [cost] (This spell costs [cost] less to cast for each mode that goes unchosen.)
But as for feedback, it feels a little weird to hate on counters, while also hating on them for your counters; you wouldn't put them on unless you're desperate or if they're -1/-1 counters. Also, it feels weird that the phase and the number would change with the different cards. It doesn't feel as unified as that.
I'll be providing feedback on the card concepts shortly.
The white card feels extremely underpowered. It's niche and it also breaks the phase structure you established.
The blue effect seems definitively white to me. There are only 2 mono-blue cards I can think of with this sort of effect, and I can think of a bunch of white cards with the tax on attack effect. It also breaks the phase structure.
The black card seems ok, though I'd probably only run it in a -1/-1 counter deck. The scry on any creature's death seems like it could be problematic, though. It also breaks the structure you proposed.
The red one seems underpowered. It won't kill any creatures aside from 1 toughness creatures and hydras. It makes more sense for the pie based on precedent that it'd deal damage to the player. Yet again, doesn't pay attention to phases.
The green one doesn't feel green beyond the past year and a half, where we've all been loudly complaining that green has been getting too much. It also feels weird having a green card that hates on counters in general. This is the only one of them that fits the phase structure theme.
THANK YOU!
I agree that the phase structure I established doesn't make sense, so I'm getting rid of that completely and just going onto the "counter hate" aspect. Your feedback is GREATLY appreciated.
In my definition of "de-escalation," I'm asserting the idea that putting counters on an existing creature is the escalation I'm hating on.
Here are some examples of what I settled on: