Need help with incant, magecraft for instants and sorceries.

EisenKreutzerEisenKreutzer
edited June 2022 in Custom Card Discussion

I need some help with a mechanic. Which version of incant works better? The one with counters is weirder, but perhaps easier to understand and keep track of. The other version puts a bunch of triggers on the stack, and can target multiple creatures because of it, so these two spells are not functionally identical, but it’s the incant mechanic I’m stuck on.

Comments

  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    I think the wording you want is 

    Incant—[Effect] for each instant or sorcery spell you’ve cast or copy this turn (including this one).

    So for your example card, the wording would be
    Target creature gets +2/+2 for each instant or sorcery spell you’ve cast or copy this turn (including this one).
  • SulemanSuleman
    @Arceus8523: It's not quite the same effect, since those would count EVERY instant or sorcery spell the player has cast that turn, not just the ones on the stack.

    E.g. You cast sorcery 1 before combat, then an incant spell after the combat.
    Your version would count sorcery 1, EisenKreuzer's version would not.

    @EisenKreutzer:
    Are there examples of spells having counters while on the stack?
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    @Suleman
    Ah I see, in that case I believe the cleanest wording is

    Incant—Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery while CARDNAME is on the stack, [effect].

    Though it seems like this might get messy to track.

    As for counters on an instant/sorcery https://scryfall.com/card/csp/89/lightning-storm
  • EisenKreutzerEisenKreutzer
    edited June 2022
    @Arceus8523 I like that wording, thanks. So, which version of incant would you prefer?
    @Suleman The counters version is based on Lightning Storm, which is the only example of counters put on spells on the stack that I know of.
  • hileandrhileandr
    edited June 2022
    I would normally steer clear of making mechanics that refer to "the stack." You have to keep in mind that for new players this concept will be incredibly difficult to grasp. Imagine teaching your friend to play and they barely understand how to cast spells or attack and block. How do you explain to them what "the stack" is?

    This is a more advanced concept and as such is too complex for a recurring mechanic, in my opinion. Maybe for a one-off mythic it could work, but that's about the extent of it in my mind.

    Perhaps you may want to try something different that has similar results. For example:

    Empowering Infusion - G
    Instant
    Target creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
    Incant - Until end of turn, whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, cast a copy of this spell.
  • EisenKreutzerEisenKreutzer
    @hileandr I think I like the current wording, but thanks. It works for split second, which directly references the stack.
  • hileandrhileandr
    @EisenKreutzer
    You do you, but there's many reasons they haven't brought back Split Second as a mechanic.
  • EisenKreutzerEisenKreutzer
    @hileandr I do appreciate the feedback, it’s very valuable to me as a beginner cardsmith.
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