@syntheticreign They seem a little strong and/or hard to understand. Unfortunately I'm finishing up work and going to be very busy the rest of the night so I can't give you adequate feedback!
@Lujikul I'm still trying to figure out if it'll be a mechanic or not. I put it on the muse as an example. Hypothetically, if it's just reminder text, does that work?
@sanjaya666 On Kehdrah: That's a pretty clever way to give a protection ability, I really like it. My only issue is that it seems too difficult to remove since it can make an art in response to a removal. Maybe the plagiarist ability needs to be sorcery speed and cost a little more? I also think it's undercosted for a repeatable ability.
@TezzeretofCarmot21 On Salendi: The Compose 1 X times reads weirdly but sounds super fun! I find it a bit weird that the two abilities are unrelated though. I liked the idea that it was also an Art lord.
Creating the character's artistic tools is a great idea!
@Faiths_Guide On Knowledge-Hungry Thief: I already commented on this card but it fits super well the Rogues ^^
On Hunappy Citizen: Haha I love the flavour, it really fleshes out the world ^^
@syntheticreign On Thum'El: Adding a mechanic to the set at this stage is an important process. I don't think Overflow is in a spot where it really brings enough to the set to be worth its complexity increase. Also, I'm pretty sure doubling everything like that is Unset territory, though it sounds quite fun ^^
On Devotee of Perfection: I don't know if the first two ability are impactful enough to take the UR uncommon slot. Compose 1 is not that impactful. Also, the Muse support is a fun idea but should probably not be on a gold uncommon, that is just not their role in a set, they are directional towards their archetype and that's it. Keep in mind they're mythic rare so that's like making a card that supports Planeswalkers, you don't design it like you would design a Zombie Tribal card
Still thinkin' about Salendi XD @TezzeretofCarmot21, while this newest Salendi is fine, I don't think it's fair for her to be an art lord and leave the other characters in the dust; nor do I think it's a good idea to have five art lords.
A couple quick Muse suggestions (haven't really thought these through much XD):
- ETB trigger and can be cast from exile to imitate Rebirth, when dies goes to exile.
- 0 mana but additional costs, variable power (for example, CARDNAME's power is equal to the amount of psylian life you gained since your last turn)
- 0 mana but additional costs, variable p/t (for example, CARDNAME's power is equal to the amount of psylian life you gained since your last turn, and its toughness is equal to the amount you lost since your last turn), can be cast from exile
- Cmc is reduced if psylian life mana was used to pay it
- Produces psylian life and then uses it in a special way
As for the five main characters, I think Salendi should support UR and WR, Maren should support GU, GW, and RG, and Kedrah should support UB and BR, but beyond that things get kind of muddled. I have no idea where to put Ekoma, and Jennel I think only fits WU well. There are archetypes left over, and I don't know where to file them XD Halp!
@MagicChess Yes, you got a point on Salendi, having them all being Art lords would make them feel not unique enough ^^
On the Muses, I see your overall point, you want to try to mess with the regular stats system to give them a more unique feel and show their alien side, do I interpret you correctly?
The five main characters don't have to support all ten archetypes by themselves. Actually, it may be better if they were the root of something different, allowing some build-aroud-me decks while still being useful in almost nay decks of their colour.
Well, um, I think this Salendi is ok for ramp...? It basically ramps up its second ability, creating an art army [insert art screaming LEEEEEEEROOOOOOY JENKIIIIIIIINS here] XXD
@TezzeretofCarmot21 Haha yeah, Ramp is quite original ^^ And it does combo well with the X ability. But the trigger is probably not the right one, composing is something quite hard to do for the average deck, and you usually have to spend mana to compose which means it doesn't actually help you reach a big X. Also, First Strike sounds a bit random to me (and 3/4 is a quite big body), why not Haste? It does combo with the tap ability at least ^^
"Compose 1 X times" still sounds quite weird by the way. Maybe something like this instead (it's still a mana sink:)
2R Salendi Kortha Legendary Creature - Human Artist 2/4 3R: Compose 3. 3R: Compose 1 three times. Whenever an Art creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, add that much {R} to your mana pool. This mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.
==> The idea for giving you the choice between the two abilities is to show how he can adapt to any situation because he's very crafty. And basically the last ability allows a ton of different combos, but at least it transforms your two activated abilities into "R: Deals 3 damage to target opponent" if you manage to hit since you get back 3 out of the four mana you spent.
@ningyounk, your interpretation of my Muses is correct XD I should have said that explicitly...
Your version of Salendi is perfect. It supports Compose synergy decks, as well as ramp decks and just red aggro decks that make use of the extra mana. I think we should bump up the mana cost, though, because why happens if you compose 5? That's a lot of mana, and you're getting more mana, instead of just reclining some that you spent on the ability. Also, are we having these tokens die at the end of the turn? Because that is a LOT of mana if the tokens are permanent. You're getting at least three mana a turn, times the number of turns you've been using the two activated abilities. Add to that Art tokens from other sources, and you've got yourself an early Emrakul and a pretty good combo deck.
@MagicChess Yeah, the power level is probably a little too strong ^^ But the fact that you can make more mana than you spent was intended as a combo with pump spells for instance. The Compose tokens sacrifice themselves as usual, yes, though if we have some Art creatures in the set as permanent cards, it is supposed to combo with them too. But we have control over how strong the Art creatures are since this creature type doesn't exist yet, so I'm not too worry about missing a crazy combo with that Salendi's ability.
Slightly nerfed version: (Just increased the costs)
2RR Salendi Kortha Legendary Creature - Human Artist 3/4 4R: Compose 3. 4R: Compose 1 three times. Whenever an Art creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, add that much {R} to your mana pool. This mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.
==> I think this might be decent, since it only triggers out of Art creatures so we have control over what makes crazy combos with it.
@symtheticreign, we changed it for a while, so I wasn't sure which version we had settled on. @ningyounk, I think the costs of the abilities are okay, since the tokens die EOT.
Here's a two-directional (vertical + horizontal) cycle on emotions:
WHITE — Joy: If you gained life this turn, EFFECT. BLUE — Fear: If you didn't lose life since your last turn, EFFECT. BLACK — Sadness: If you lost life this turn, EFFECT. RED — Hate: If an opponent lost life this turn, EFFECT. GREEN — Love: If at least two players gained and/or lost life this turn, EFFECT.
It's a whooping 15-cards cycle so sorry in advance, some cards are quite unpolished, but it's really about the concept of rooting the life-matters theme in the set:
@TezzeretofCarmot21 Not at all, go ahead with Salendi, mixing everyone's idea is the whole point =D And technically it's your design, I just twitched it a bit ^^
Ok I just wanted to make sure @ningyounk. I like the idea - I'm going to print this out and put it in my blue-red artifact-ramp deck. Now I need a good image of a paintbrush to be her legendary artifact... EDIT: You know that weird character you mentioned in the creative design thread right after @MagicChess wrote those *amazing* stories? The one that guy made multiple pictures of? Corrupted Muse!
@Faiths_Guide, @ningyounk, hear, hear! @TezzeretofCarmot21, like I said to @ningyounk, I think that 5 mana is too much for Compose 3 or Compose 1 three times, especially since they die EOT. Four mana should do just fine, as long as the cmc is upped.
@TezzeretofCarmot21 Just some minor feedback for future cards, make sure to put abilities in this order. 1) Casting keywords 1b) Other Keywords 2) Static abilities 3) Triggered abilities 4) Activated abilities
@MagicChess I agree that 5 mana is more than the cost that Compose 3 should be but it's repeatable so it actually may be undercosted ^^ It's like with River Hoopoe http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=430832 in Hour of Devastation or Fathom Feeder http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=403072 in Battle for Zendikar, neither "Draw a card + gain 2 life" nor "Draw a card + ingest" are worth 5 mana, but there's an additional cost for being repeatable ^^ (And I strongly believe Compose 3 and Compose 1 three times are much stronger than those options, hence why I said it may actually be undercosted.)
- I tried monocoloured because I found difficult enough to give them a gimmick, add everything they needed to be relevant and on top of that still make the main theme about the emotion, without having to depict two contrary emotions. I used the same five emotions as the 15-cards concept above (Joy, Fear, Sadness, Hate, Love) - I decided to go with the "Make them relevant the turn they enter the battlefield" instead of going with protection to make them different from the Gods. - I put them at 0 power to emphasize the difference with the Gods. The Gods are a threat by themselves, by having them 0 power I really wanted to say "It's not the body that is important, it's the effect." - This means they are rather easy to kill, but do you really want to use a removal on a creature this weak? It creates an interesting dilemma about whether or not you should spend your ressource to deal with them. - The structure I used is: 1) An ETB that creates a legendary indestructible enchantment named by the emotion it represents. Sorry, I'm unabe to find back the person who originally posted that idea as the Immortalize mechanic but it was quite popular so I used a twitched version ^^ This enchantment affects creatures on the board, notably this one does give your Muse some power. This is the flashy part of the card. The effect doesn't do anything without creatures but I think it was a necessary weakness from a flavour point of view. 2) The second ability is a static ability that comboes with the legendary Enchantment. The idea is to reward you if you manage to keep the Muse alive with something else than raw power. 3) 0-powered stats, no evergreen keyword, though the legendary enchantment can actually mess with that
Great idea @ningyounk, only problems are A) why don't you call it Grand Muse of Joy, and give it a creature type of Grand Muse to make it seem more... Grand? This is basically a 2/8 with lifelink. If all of your muses had the +2/+2 and keyword, in a two color deck, all your creatures might have +4+4 and two abilities. That sounds kind of OP, though I'm not above using it ... XD
Comments
They seem a little strong and/or hard to understand. Unfortunately I'm finishing up work and going to be very busy the rest of the night so I can't give you adequate feedback!
No worries!!
@Lujikul
I'm still trying to figure out if it'll be a mechanic or not. I put it on the muse as an example. Hypothetically, if it's just reminder text, does that work?
On Kehdrah: That's a pretty clever way to give a protection ability, I really like it. My only issue is that it seems too difficult to remove since it can make an art in response to a removal. Maybe the plagiarist ability needs to be sorcery speed and cost a little more? I also think it's undercosted for a repeatable ability.
@TezzeretofCarmot21
On Salendi: The Compose 1 X times reads weirdly but sounds super fun! I find it a bit weird that the two abilities are unrelated though. I liked the idea that it was also an Art lord.
Creating the character's artistic tools is a great idea!
@Faiths_Guide
On Knowledge-Hungry Thief: I already commented on this card but it fits super well the Rogues ^^
On Hunappy Citizen: Haha I love the flavour, it really fleshes out the world ^^
@syntheticreign
On Thum'El: Adding a mechanic to the set at this stage is an important process. I don't think Overflow is in a spot where it really brings enough to the set to be worth its complexity increase. Also, I'm pretty sure doubling everything like that is Unset territory, though it sounds quite fun ^^
On Devotee of Perfection: I don't know if the first two ability are impactful enough to take the UR uncommon slot. Compose 1 is not that impactful. Also, the Muse support is a fun idea but should probably not be on a gold uncommon, that is just not their role in a set, they are directional towards their archetype and that's it. Keep in mind they're mythic rare so that's like making a card that supports Planeswalkers, you don't design it like you would design a Zombie Tribal card
Thanks!
No more easy fatties.
A couple quick Muse suggestions (haven't really thought these through much XD):
- ETB trigger and can be cast from exile to imitate Rebirth, when dies goes to exile.
- 0 mana but additional costs, variable power (for example, CARDNAME's power is equal to the amount of psylian life you gained since your last turn)
- 0 mana but additional costs, variable p/t (for example, CARDNAME's power is equal to the amount of psylian life you gained since your last turn, and its toughness is equal to the amount you lost since your last turn), can be cast from exile
- Cmc is reduced if psylian life mana was used to pay it
- Produces psylian life and then uses it in a special way
As for the five main characters, I think Salendi should support UR and WR, Maren should support GU, GW, and RG, and Kedrah should support UB and BR, but beyond that things get kind of muddled. I have no idea where to put Ekoma, and Jennel I think only fits WU well. There are archetypes left over, and I don't know where to file them XD Halp!
On the Muses, I see your overall point, you want to try to mess with the regular stats system to give them a more unique feel and show their alien side, do I interpret you correctly?
The five main characters don't have to support all ten archetypes by themselves. Actually, it may be better if they were the root of something different, allowing some build-aroud-me decks while still being useful in almost nay decks of their colour.
Well, um, I think this Salendi is ok for ramp...? It basically ramps up its second ability, creating an art army [insert art screaming LEEEEEEEROOOOOOY JENKIIIIIIIINS here] XXD
"Compose 1 X times" still sounds quite weird by the way. Maybe something like this instead (it's still a mana sink:)
2R
Salendi Kortha
Legendary Creature - Human Artist
2/4
3R: Compose 3.
3R: Compose 1 three times.
Whenever an Art creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, add that much {R} to your mana pool. This mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.
==> The idea for giving you the choice between the two abilities is to show how he can adapt to any situation because he's very crafty. And basically the last ability allows a ton of different combos, but at least it transforms your two activated abilities into "R: Deals 3 damage to target opponent" if you manage to hit since you get back 3 out of the four mana you spent.
Your version of Salendi is perfect. It supports Compose synergy decks, as well as ramp decks and just red aggro decks that make use of the extra mana. I think we should bump up the mana cost, though, because why happens if you compose 5? That's a lot of mana, and you're getting more mana, instead of just reclining some that you spent on the ability.
Also, are we having these tokens die at the end of the turn? Because that is a LOT of mana if the tokens are permanent. You're getting at least three mana a turn, times the number of turns you've been using the two activated abilities. Add to that Art tokens from other sources, and you've got yourself an early Emrakul and a pretty good combo deck.
Slightly nerfed version: (Just increased the costs)
2RR
Salendi Kortha
Legendary Creature - Human Artist
3/4
4R: Compose 3.
4R: Compose 1 three times.
Whenever an Art creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, add that much {R} to your mana pool. This mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.
==> I think this might be decent, since it only triggers out of Art creatures so we have control over what makes crazy combos with it.
@ningyounk, I think the costs of the abilities are okay, since the tokens die EOT.
WHITE — Joy: If you gained life this turn, EFFECT.
BLUE — Fear: If you didn't lose life since your last turn, EFFECT.
BLACK — Sadness: If you lost life this turn, EFFECT.
RED — Hate: If an opponent lost life this turn, EFFECT.
GREEN — Love: If at least two players gained and/or lost life this turn, EFFECT.
It's a whooping 15-cards cycle so sorry in advance, some cards are quite unpolished, but it's really about the concept of rooting the life-matters theme in the set:
I just wanted to make sure @ningyounk. I like the idea - I'm going to print this out and put it in my blue-red artifact-ramp deck. Now I need a good image of a paintbrush to be her legendary artifact...
EDIT: You know that weird character you mentioned in the creative design thread right after @MagicChess wrote those *amazing* stories? The one that guy made multiple pictures of? Corrupted Muse!
*applause*
@TezzeretofCarmot21, like I said to @ningyounk, I think that 5 mana is too much for Compose 3 or Compose 1 three times, especially since they die EOT. Four mana should do just fine, as long as the cmc is upped.
Just some minor feedback for future cards, make sure to put abilities in this order.
1) Casting keywords
1b) Other Keywords
2) Static abilities
3) Triggered abilities
4) Activated abilities
Rare exceptions exist for abilities like partner.
Yeah, but both of those cards are worth less than the paper they are printed on.
- I tried monocoloured because I found difficult enough to give them a gimmick, add everything they needed to be relevant and on top of that still make the main theme about the emotion, without having to depict two contrary emotions. I used the same five emotions as the 15-cards concept above (Joy, Fear, Sadness, Hate, Love)
- I decided to go with the "Make them relevant the turn they enter the battlefield" instead of going with protection to make them different from the Gods.
- I put them at 0 power to emphasize the difference with the Gods. The Gods are a threat by themselves, by having them 0 power I really wanted to say "It's not the body that is important, it's the effect."
- This means they are rather easy to kill, but do you really want to use a removal on a creature this weak? It creates an interesting dilemma about whether or not you should spend your ressource to deal with them.
- The structure I used is:
1) An ETB that creates a legendary indestructible enchantment named by the emotion it represents. Sorry, I'm unabe to find back the person who originally posted that idea as the Immortalize mechanic but it was quite popular so I used a twitched version ^^ This enchantment affects creatures on the board, notably this one does give your Muse some power. This is the flashy part of the card. The effect doesn't do anything without creatures but I think it was a necessary weakness from a flavour point of view.
2) The second ability is a static ability that comboes with the legendary Enchantment. The idea is to reward you if you manage to keep the Muse alive with something else than raw power.
3) 0-powered stats, no evergreen keyword, though the legendary enchantment can actually mess with that