Custom Anti-Scry/Anti Blue Draw Card - Depression of the Abyss
Custom Cards forum
Posted on May 21, 2016, 9:36 a.m. by Gandolfini
Depression of the Abyss can't be counteredWhenever a player would draw a card, that player draws from the bottom of their library instead. That player then loses one life. The source of the life loss is that player.
"Let's feel sad together" - Human widower
This card was designed as a soft answer to Serum vision and blue card draw. Thematically, the opponent makes meticulous plans by scrying, then abandons them as he feels sad.
Update- See the new version posted below in the comments, with syntax and balance changes.
Gidgetimer says... #3
Since you posted this I assume you want honest feedback. If not, or if you are just going to dismiss criticism stop reading now.
The card is poorly templated, out of flavor for blue, and that last sentence is superfluous.
You can not draw from anywhere except the top of your deck. If you are doing anything except drawing from the top of your deck "put (SPECIFIED CARD) into your hand" is used instead.
Replacing a draw with some other action has to be done as a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. "Whenever" starts triggered abilities "If...would...instead" is the formatting for replacement effects.
Blue is primary in both card draw and scrying. Self hosing is not something they do often and even then rarely on permanents.
"The source of the life loss is that player." This sentence does nothing. Protection would not stop the ability even without that sentence. If you are trying to do it on flavor grounds then you are making the card more cluttered for only a slight flavor gain, which is bad design.
May 21, 2016 10:20 a.m.
Gandolfini says... #4
Epochalyptik, It's a one-drop common because it affects all players with a small, but important rules change. It's not a cantrip so the player has to spend a card from hand to use it.It's uncounterable because depression is hard to counter.
I suppose it could be reminder text, but the phrase "The source of the life loss is that player" is there to make it clear the players are hurting themselves for thematic reasons.
May 21, 2016 10:23 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Clarity for thematic reasons is not really a reason at all when it comes to justifying card text. Cards have very strict templating conventions to make them easy to read. Consistency in formatting and wording creates expectations, which help players determine what's supposed to happen in a given scenario. Your wording model moves back toward the murky times of Alpha, Portal, etc. where card text was overused to no practical benefit.
Further, it seems like the whole card was invented as the most direct and convenient answer for something you happen to not like. This approach tends not to yield realistic cards. In this case, the card is a common, so it's highly available. It's a 1-drop, so it's very convenient to cast. It's uncounterable, so it's more of a blowout answer. It isn't balanced.
May 21, 2016 10:49 a.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #6
@robotherolove congratz. you made a card that just makes blue players unhappy. its also a card that they can't even counter. in mono blue literally the ONLY THING they can do about this permanently is Mindbreak Trap it.
this card is unfair and ridiculous. Blue players don't need to be punished like this, and Serum Visions isn't something you "answer" its something you ignore because seriously who gives a shit about Serum Visions?
May 21, 2016 10:57 a.m. Edited.
Gandolfini says... #7
I edited the card to everyone's specifications. I didn't expect my custom card to be dissected so thoroughly and completely.
May 21, 2016 11:08 a.m.
CallMeCrazySam says... #8
That one life loss is severely undercosted even though it is all players. See Underworld Dreams.
May 21, 2016 12:51 p.m.
So...if I see a card I want to draw and this is in play, there's nothing stopping me from putting it on the bottom of my library--which is a legal part of the scry effect--then drawing it from the bottom, right?
It's an interesting card because there are a lot of weird cards like Jar of Eyeballs which put cards on the bottom of your library, but it doesn't stop scry. It just flips what you need to do to make it effective.
May 21, 2016 1:04 p.m.
Gandolfini says... #10
Right Egann, it only hurts players that have manipulated there library prior to the card being played.Thanks for calling the card interesting and understanding its combo potential, missed by other commenters.
May 21, 2016 1:12 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #11
I'm not so sure that anyone missed the "combo potential". I would wager that most of us are aware of Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and therefore the concept of "bottom deck manipulation" as opposed to "top deck manipulation". I had already gone on about enough formatting points that I wasn't going to get into analyzing the card itself.
May 21, 2016 1:33 p.m.
Perhaps a more mechanically interesting way of using the card would be to give it blink or phasing, then.
If you're going a taxes route, you could say "3: exile Depression of the Abyss, then return it to the battlefield under it's owner's control during the next end step. Any player may activate this ability."
If you're going disruption, you could do "3: Depression of the Abyss phases out."
Epochalyptik says... #2
"The source of the life loss is that player" is not a necessary sentence, nor does it mean anything from a rules perspective.
Also, why is this an uncounterable 1-drop common?
May 21, 2016 10:04 a.m.