@Corwinnn - That's currently the only example. I have others planned to counter creatures and players (and by players, I mean spells and permanents that aren't creatures or Planeswalkers). And the main reason I don't just have one spell capable of doing all of those is that it would take up too much space.
Also, the whole point of Disrupt is that Red has to put a lot more effort into successfully using its countermagic than Blue does. For Blue, countering is a means to an end, and serves as a means of defense; for Red, it's a side-effect of beating the opponent senseless.
So if you want to spread it across colors, you would definitely want to add in a cost that would correlate to each color... exile/discard/life loss/damage/sac etc.... As long as it's fun I think people will like it... who wouldn't want to crush activated abilities? XD
@Corwinnn: It's not a cost, it's a condition. Disrupt spells and abilities require you to deal a certain amount of damage while the spell or ability you want to counter is on the stack. And since the stack resolves in reverse order, you need to play the disrupt spell/ability first and pile other damage-dealing abilities on top of it so the disrupt spell/ability resolves after the others. Which means the opponent can stop the counter effect from happening by preventing enough damage to stop you meeting the threshold. You could disrupt that, but it would require you to pile more spells on to successfully meet the threshold for disrupting the effect preventing the damage. Using disrupt would require you to save your burn spells/abilities for when you most need them, making a very weird aggro-control hybrid strategy.
Remember the illusion cards, the ones with "If this creature is the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it" Well here, here's pretty much the same thing: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/seeker-in-mists
Mutated X (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with X -1/-1 counters on it. If you do, it it mutated.) The card will have other effects if it is mutated.
Bloodmad (Whenever one or more creatures with bloodmad deal combat damage to a player for the first time in a turn, untap them. After this combat phase there is an additional combat phase.)
Pillage X - When this creature deals combat damage to a player, exile the top X cards of their library. You may cast those cards until end of turn, you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast them.
I've had this mechanic for a couple years now, I realise, but only just really rediscovered this place.
Multicast X (as you cast this spell [only on instants and sorceries] flip X coins. For each heads, copy it and cast the copies without paying their mana costs. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Pollution (Put a pollution counter on target land. Whenever that land is tapped for mana, it doesn't untap during its owner's next untap step.)
For example, Artifact - "When ~ enters the battlefield, put a pollution counter on up to two target lands." Creature - "Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a pollution counter on target land." Enchantment - "Whenever a land enters the battlefield, put a pollution counter on it unless that player pays 3 life."
Here's one I'd like feedback on, its designed as an alternative cost for big red burn spells:
Detonate (mana cost) - you may cast this card for its detonate cost. If you do, destroy all permanents used to cast it.
The idea is to destroy the lands/sources used to cast the spell as it resolves, but I'm not sure of wording. Suggestions and feedback welcome and solicited!
Viral (Whenever this creature deals damage to a creature, put a viral counter on that creature. Creatures with viral counters have infect.) Useless against infect, disrupts the plan of certain decks (forces them to do infect damage when they've been chipping away at your life total, could neutralize creatures. Similar to Phyrexian Unlife in some ways, a bit different though). EDIT: Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/viral-infector?list=user
Mimic (Whenever a creature with the same name as [CARDNAME] enters the battlefield, ...) Could be used for tokens, just value creatures with small upside, etc. EDIT: name might not be right, not sure what to call it though EDIT: Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/shifting-doppelganger?list=user
Defect N (This [permanent type] enters the battlefield with N loyalty counters on it. When the last loyalty counter is removed, target opponent gains control of this [permanent type].)
Ignite target [permanent type] (To ignite a [permanent type], put three loyalty counters on it. It becomes a planeswalker and loses all other types and abilities.)
Author's note: When I created this ability I imagined that three loyalty would leave enough space in most cases to work with and made the ability much more simple. It's unclear to me whether it's true or not, but limiting it to three counters certainly makes it more challenging to design around.
Deflect N (Any player may pay N life to counter this spell.)
I actually only have one mechanic that I've ever created entirely on my own, and that is this one:
Impend (X) (At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay (X) and tap (Insert creature's name here). If you do, at the beginning of your next upkeep, (Insert creature's name here) gets (Insert ability here).)
Here's the cards I have that use it.
Charge power is the first card I made that had this mechanic.
@ArienStorm: ...I have no idea and no excuse for why I ignored this post when I first saw it. I realize I'm three months late to say this, but for the sake of consistency with other alternative costkeywords, Reunite should be worded something like this:
Reunite [cost] (If you control a copy of this card in your graveyard and a copy of this card on the battlefield, you may cast the copy in your graveyard for its reunite cost.)
Exchange is worded like an alternative cost, too, which is fine. I'd have worded it more as an alternative payment, like convoke, delve, and the consume keyword you also designed. (Consume looks like a strictly worse version of Convoke at first glance, since sacrificing creatures is an inherently greater cost than tapping them, but I'm sure there are situations where you might want to sacrifice them (enters-the-graveyard, graveyard-as-resource, and sacrifice-replacement abilities come to mind, not to mention certain creatures you may not want to keep around (Abyssal Persecutor being a standout example)). The benefit of the alternative payment method approach would be allowing the cost to be paid through a mixture of paying mana and putting cards from the top of your library into your graveyard, as well as allowing Exchange to be utilized while paying an alternative cost (if a card has multiple alternative costs, you have to choose one of those (or the "standard" mana cost) when you cast it - which can be problematic, as some alternative costs, like flashback and suspend, serve to allow you to cast a spell from a zone other than your hand (though suspend technically moves the spell from your hand to exile, then casts it from exile some time later), and others, like madness and miracle, modify the timing of casting the spell). However, that may not have been your intention; it's entirely possible that you wanted Exchange to boil down to a binary decision - either pay the mana cost or put a number of cards equal to the mana cost from your library into your graveyard, with no option to mix-and-match. In that case, there's no need to alter how it works, as long as you don't mind it being incompatible with other alternative cost keywords.
Return looks quite interesting. It serves a similar function to buyback, flashback, retrace, and recover (among other keywords I may have failed to mention) - namely, allowing the reuse of spells. It's also like suspend in that you don't get to reuse the spell right away (as opposed to buyback keeping the spell from entering the graveyard in the first place, flashback and retrace allowing it to be cast from the graveyard (with the catch of exiling the card in the case of the former and sacrificing a land in the case of the latter), and recover allowing it to return directly to your hand (with the catch of only allowing you to do so when one of your creatures dies and exiling the card if you miss your chance)).
Landsurge is completely useless as you wrote it. Lands are always colorless. This includes basic lands.
Pierce is completely unnecessary. Why the hell do we want two keywords that do the exact same thing?!?
I have nothing to say about exhilaration, triumphant, and starlight except I think they're awesome.
Anyways, I've rambled on long enough on old news. Speaking of updating keywords, I want to update one of my own, namely vigorous.
Vigorous (This creature's power and toughness cannot be reduced except by removing effects that would increase its power and/or toughness. -1/-1 counters cannot be placed on this creature; if it would take damage in the form of -1/-1 counters, it takes that damage normally instead. If this creature takes damage from a source with deathtouch, that damage is not automatically lethal.)
Rulings 1: Vigorous consists of four static abilities. The first of these negates effects that reduce the creature's power and/or toughness, regardless of their source or duration; such effects are placed on the creature, but don't do anything. The second prevents -1/-1 counters from being placed on the creature; the third, which is linked to the second, negates effects such as wither and infect that would replace damage with -1/-1 counters (causing the damage to instead be marked normally). The fourth causes damage from sources with deathtouch to be marked normally (meaning that damage from a source with deathtouch is not automatically lethal, but will still be lethal if it's greater than the toughness of the creature with vigorous). Rulings 1.1: Vigorous does not prevent a creature's power and/or toughness from being lowered by removing effects that increased its power and/or toughness. Rulings 1.2: If a creature loses vigorous while under an effect that would lower its power and/or toughness, that effect begins to apply normally. If the creature regains vigorous later, it resumes ignoring the effect. Rulings 1.2.1: Vigorous only ignores effects that reduce power and/or toughness. If only part of an effect reduces power and/or toughness, only that part of the effect is ignored.
Rulings 1.2 is the big one - the one I didn't really think of when I first designed the keyword. A while ago, I came up with a card concept called Untaintable Being (which is currently unpublished due to wording issues and a lack of artwork). Untaintable Being is an enchantment creature with bestow which prevents effects that lower power and/or toughness from being applied or placed onto itself or the creature it enchants (meaning that all counters that lower power and/or toughness can't be placed, Auras and Equipment that lower power and/or toughness can't be attached, and other effects that lower power and/or toughness completely fail to be applied, even if Untaintable Being later loses its ability), but doesn't nullify such effects that were already present before it entered the battlefield (with the exception of global static effects, as I didn't want to deal with timestamp headaches). Untaintable Being is actually the prototype of Vigorous, so Vigorous does something that is essentially the same, yet in retrospect, kind of the complete opposite. Namely, Vigorous allows the placement of power-and/or-toughness-lowering counters (except for -1/-1 counters), the attachment of Auras and Equipment that lower power and/or toughness, and the application of effects that lower power and/or toughness, but makes all negative changes to power and/or toughness moot points, regardless of whether they were put in place when the creature already had vigorous or it gained vigorous after they were put on it. But if the creature with vigorous loses vigorous, those effects immediately apply like they normally would, until the creature regains vigorous, at which point they immediately become inert again. Vigorous also specifically has a clause that prevents damage-replacement effects that would replace damage with -1/-1 counters (changing the damage back to being marked normally), while Untaintable Being allows such replacement effects to happen and then nullifies them after the fact (which results in the damage not being marked, but still being considered to have happened, allowing it to trigger or "set off" abilities). Untaintable Being is also affected normally by deathtouch (regardless of whether or not its source also has wither or infect, which Untaintable Being more or less completely hoses otherwise), while Vigorous specifically negates and ignores deathtouch.
Essentially, Untaintable Being's effect is, with the exception of its application towards global static abilities, purely a prevention effect that stops power-and/or-toughness-lowering events from happening to itself or the creature it enchants, but doesn't nullify such effects if they were present on the enchanted creature before Untaintable Being was attached to it (or to itself if it loses its ability and regains it later). (Untaintable Being also doesn't prevent damage from happening, but can prevent it from being marked if it's replaced with something that Untaintable Being does prevent.) Vigorous doesn't prevent anything except the placement of -1/-1 counters, instead nullifying power-and/or-toughness-lowering effects that are applied to a creature with the keyword, regardless of whether the creature's power and toughness were reduced before it gained vigorous.
I made a new mechanic. Hope, you like it. Feel free to use it:
diving (When this creature blocks or becomes blocked, you may exile it and return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.)
Naturecall Naturecall - Whenever you cast a creature spell, [effect] Naturecall - If you've cast a creature spell this turn, [effect] instead. Naturecall - [cost]: [effect]. Activate this ability only if you've cast a creature spell this turn. Naturecall is primarly Green, secondary White and tertiary Red.
Faithful Faithful (Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may exile this, helping it, until that creature leaves the battlefield.) Faithful can be found on other cards I made as Indie-Help. Helped creatures usually get boost as long they're helped, for example "Helped creature gets +2/+2." When an helped creature leaves the battlefield, permanents with faithful return to the battlefield under their owner's control. Faithful is primarly White and secondary Red, but it can be found in all colors.
Counterbond N Counterbond N (Whenever a source you control counters a spell or ability an opponent controls, put N +1/+1 counters on this creature.) Counterbond N (Whenever a source you control counters a spell or ability an opponent controls, put N charge counters on this permanent.) Counterbond is primarly Blue and secondary White.
Nyan Nyan - Whenever [event], put a nyan counter on this, then [effect] X times, where X is the number on nyan counters on this. Ok, this one is an Un-mechanic made only for Nyan Cat, but if you want to use it... Nyan is primarly Blue, and secondary Black.
I'm having trouble with a mechanic. I haven't made a card with it yet, but let's see how good it is.
Last Stand
Option #1
Possible variations to choose from:
1. As long as you have 1 or less life, ____ has protection from everything. 2. You may only cast this spell if you have 1or less life. 3. If you have 1 or less life, instead... 4. As long as you have 1or less life... 5. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 1 or less life...
Those will for white or white/black.
Option #2
Possible variations to choose from:
1. You may only cast this spell if you have 0 or less life.
I'm still thinking about this one.
The flavor for #1 would be dying soldiers, a final revolt, the last remaining city, a city under siege, only the commander alive etc.
MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Comments
Also, the whole point of Disrupt is that Red has to put a lot more effort into successfully using its countermagic than Blue does. For Blue, countering is a means to an end, and serves as a means of defense; for Red, it's a side-effect of beating the opponent senseless.
XD
Example: Thing of Nightmares http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/thing-of-nightmares-1?list=user
Bloodmad (Whenever one or more creatures with bloodmad deal combat damage to a player for the first time in a turn, untap them. After this combat phase there is an additional combat phase.)
Example: Crazed Bloodseeker http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/crazed-bloodseeker?list=user
Multicast X (as you cast this spell [only on instants and sorceries] flip X coins. For each heads, copy it and cast the copies without paying their mana costs. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Example card: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/electrical-storm-2
For example,
Artifact - "When ~ enters the battlefield, put a pollution counter on up to two target lands."
Creature - "Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a pollution counter on target land."
Enchantment - "Whenever a land enters the battlefield, put a pollution counter on it unless that player pays 3 life."
Detonate (mana cost) - you may cast this card for its detonate cost. If you do, destroy all permanents used to cast it.
The idea is to destroy the lands/sources used to cast the spell as it resolves, but I'm not sure of wording. Suggestions and feedback welcome and solicited!
A creature downside to allow it to be cheaper.
Examples: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/bloodlust-rager-2?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ravenous-stalker?list=user
Useless against infect, disrupts the plan of certain decks (forces them to do infect damage when they've been chipping away at your life total, could neutralize creatures. Similar to Phyrexian Unlife in some ways, a bit different though).
EDIT: Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/viral-infector?list=user
Could be used for tokens, just value creatures with small upside, etc.
EDIT: name might not be right, not sure what to call it though
EDIT: Example: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/shifting-doppelganger?list=user
Ignite target [permanent type] (To ignite a [permanent type], put three loyalty counters on it. It becomes a planeswalker and loses all other types and abilities.)
Author's note: When I created this ability I imagined that three loyalty would leave enough space in most cases to work with and made the ability much more simple. It's unclear to me whether it's true or not, but limiting it to three counters certainly makes it more challenging to design around.
Deflect N (Any player may pay N life to counter this spell.)
@kltmtg29: Hunger and viral are also really cool concepts.
Impend (X) (At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay (X) and tap (Insert creature's name here). If you do, at the beginning of your next upkeep, (Insert creature's name here) gets (Insert ability here).)
Here's the cards I have that use it.
Charge power is the first card I made that had this mechanic.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/account/sets/13302
I think it's only right to tell you -
http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Amplify
Reunite [cost] (If you control a copy of this card in your graveyard and a copy of this card on the battlefield, you may cast the copy in your graveyard for its reunite cost.)
Exchange is worded like an alternative cost, too, which is fine. I'd have worded it more as an alternative payment, like convoke, delve, and the consume keyword you also designed. (Consume looks like a strictly worse version of Convoke at first glance, since sacrificing creatures is an inherently greater cost than tapping them, but I'm sure there are situations where you might want to sacrifice them (enters-the-graveyard, graveyard-as-resource, and sacrifice-replacement abilities come to mind, not to mention certain creatures you may not want to keep around (Abyssal Persecutor being a standout example)). The benefit of the alternative payment method approach would be allowing the cost to be paid through a mixture of paying mana and putting cards from the top of your library into your graveyard, as well as allowing Exchange to be utilized while paying an alternative cost (if a card has multiple alternative costs, you have to choose one of those (or the "standard" mana cost) when you cast it - which can be problematic, as some alternative costs, like flashback and suspend, serve to allow you to cast a spell from a zone other than your hand (though suspend technically moves the spell from your hand to exile, then casts it from exile some time later), and others, like madness and miracle, modify the timing of casting the spell). However, that may not have been your intention; it's entirely possible that you wanted Exchange to boil down to a binary decision - either pay the mana cost or put a number of cards equal to the mana cost from your library into your graveyard, with no option to mix-and-match. In that case, there's no need to alter how it works, as long as you don't mind it being incompatible with other alternative cost keywords.
Return looks quite interesting. It serves a similar function to buyback, flashback, retrace, and recover (among other keywords I may have failed to mention) - namely, allowing the reuse of spells. It's also like suspend in that you don't get to reuse the spell right away (as opposed to buyback keeping the spell from entering the graveyard in the first place, flashback and retrace allowing it to be cast from the graveyard (with the catch of exiling the card in the case of the former and sacrificing a land in the case of the latter), and recover allowing it to return directly to your hand (with the catch of only allowing you to do so when one of your creatures dies and exiling the card if you miss your chance)).
Landsurge is completely useless as you wrote it. Lands are always colorless. This includes basic lands.
Pierce is completely unnecessary. Why the hell do we want two keywords that do the exact same thing?!?
I have nothing to say about exhilaration, triumphant, and starlight except I think they're awesome.
Vigorous (This creature's power and toughness cannot be reduced except by removing effects that would increase its power and/or toughness. -1/-1 counters cannot be placed on this creature; if it would take damage in the form of -1/-1 counters, it takes that damage normally instead. If this creature takes damage from a source with deathtouch, that damage is not automatically lethal.)
In preparation to release a card using the keyword, I wrote some actual rulings for Vigorous.
Rulings 1: Vigorous consists of four static abilities. The first of these negates effects that reduce the creature's power and/or toughness, regardless of their source or duration; such effects are placed on the creature, but don't do anything. The second prevents -1/-1 counters from being placed on the creature; the third, which is linked to the second, negates effects such as wither and infect that would replace damage with -1/-1 counters (causing the damage to instead be marked normally). The fourth causes damage from sources with deathtouch to be marked normally (meaning that damage from a source with deathtouch is not automatically lethal, but will still be lethal if it's greater than the toughness of the creature with vigorous).
Rulings 1.1: Vigorous does not prevent a creature's power and/or toughness from being lowered by removing effects that increased its power and/or toughness.
Rulings 1.2: If a creature loses vigorous while under an effect that would lower its power and/or toughness, that effect begins to apply normally. If the creature regains vigorous later, it resumes ignoring the effect.
Rulings 1.2.1: Vigorous only ignores effects that reduce power and/or toughness. If only part of an effect reduces power and/or toughness, only that part of the effect is ignored.
Rulings 1.2 is the big one - the one I didn't really think of when I first designed the keyword. A while ago, I came up with a card concept called Untaintable Being (which is currently unpublished due to wording issues and a lack of artwork). Untaintable Being is an enchantment creature with bestow which prevents effects that lower power and/or toughness from being applied or placed onto itself or the creature it enchants (meaning that all counters that lower power and/or toughness can't be placed, Auras and Equipment that lower power and/or toughness can't be attached, and other effects that lower power and/or toughness completely fail to be applied, even if Untaintable Being later loses its ability), but doesn't nullify such effects that were already present before it entered the battlefield (with the exception of global static effects, as I didn't want to deal with timestamp headaches). Untaintable Being is actually the prototype of Vigorous, so Vigorous does something that is essentially the same, yet in retrospect, kind of the complete opposite. Namely, Vigorous allows the placement of power-and/or-toughness-lowering counters (except for -1/-1 counters), the attachment of Auras and Equipment that lower power and/or toughness, and the application of effects that lower power and/or toughness, but makes all negative changes to power and/or toughness moot points, regardless of whether they were put in place when the creature already had vigorous or it gained vigorous after they were put on it. But if the creature with vigorous loses vigorous, those effects immediately apply like they normally would, until the creature regains vigorous, at which point they immediately become inert again. Vigorous also specifically has a clause that prevents damage-replacement effects that would replace damage with -1/-1 counters (changing the damage back to being marked normally), while Untaintable Being allows such replacement effects to happen and then nullifies them after the fact (which results in the damage not being marked, but still being considered to have happened, allowing it to trigger or "set off" abilities). Untaintable Being is also affected normally by deathtouch (regardless of whether or not its source also has wither or infect, which Untaintable Being more or less completely hoses otherwise), while Vigorous specifically negates and ignores deathtouch.
Essentially, Untaintable Being's effect is, with the exception of its application towards global static abilities, purely a prevention effect that stops power-and/or-toughness-lowering events from happening to itself or the creature it enchants, but doesn't nullify such effects if they were present on the enchanted creature before Untaintable Being was attached to it (or to itself if it loses its ability and regains it later). (Untaintable Being also doesn't prevent damage from happening, but can prevent it from being marked if it's replaced with something that Untaintable Being does prevent.) Vigorous doesn't prevent anything except the placement of -1/-1 counters, instead nullifying power-and/or-toughness-lowering effects that are applied to a creature with the keyword, regardless of whether the creature's power and toughness were reduced before it gained vigorous.
diving (When this creature blocks or becomes blocked, you may exile it and return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.)
Naturecall
Naturecall - Whenever you cast a creature spell, [effect]
Naturecall - If you've cast a creature spell this turn, [effect] instead.
Naturecall - [cost]: [effect]. Activate this ability only if you've cast a creature spell this turn.
Naturecall is primarly Green, secondary White and tertiary Red.
Faithful
Faithful (Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may exile this, helping it, until that creature leaves the battlefield.)
Faithful can be found on other cards I made as Indie-Help. Helped creatures usually get boost as long they're helped, for example "Helped creature gets +2/+2." When an helped creature leaves the battlefield, permanents with faithful return to the battlefield under their owner's control. Faithful is primarly White and secondary Red, but it can be found in all colors.
Counterbond N
Counterbond N (Whenever a source you control counters a spell or ability an opponent controls, put N +1/+1 counters on this creature.)
Counterbond N (Whenever a source you control counters a spell or ability an opponent controls, put N charge counters on this permanent.)
Counterbond is primarly Blue and secondary White.
Nyan
Nyan - Whenever [event], put a nyan counter on this, then [effect] X times, where X is the number on nyan counters on this.
Ok, this one is an Un-mechanic made only for Nyan Cat, but if you want to use it...
Nyan is primarly Blue, and secondary Black.
All of my mechanics can be found here, with an example for each mechanic: http://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Ludos/sets/11699
Hope you like them \^W^/
Last Stand
Option #1
Possible variations to choose from:
1. As long as you have 1 or less life, ____ has protection from everything.
2. You may only cast this spell if you have 1or less life.
3. If you have 1 or less life, instead...
4. As long as you have 1or less life...
5. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 1 or less life...
Those will for white or white/black.
Option #2
Possible variations to choose from:
1. You may only cast this spell if you have 0 or less life.
I'm still thinking about this one.
The flavor for #1 would be dying soldiers, a final revolt, the last remaining city, a city under siege, only the commander alive etc.
The flavor for #2 is still under decision.
Can you guys give me some help?
I say we stick with the "Fateful hour" mechanic. http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Fateful_hour
People already don't like that one much as it is. Though I think it has its uses: