Custom Ability Question

Custom Cards forum

Posted on June 21, 2018, 4:31 p.m. by Faiths_Guide

Pretty sure this doesn't work yet:

"Spells and permanents your opponents control can't cause you to pay mana."

The goal is to make certain things not work, such as Ghostly Prison, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Mana Leak.

How would I appropriately word an ability like this?

Faiths_Guide says... #2

Any input, FancyTuesday?

June 21, 2018 4:32 p.m.

Faiths_Guide says... #3

Maybe something like:

"You may ignore spells and abilities opponents' control that would cause you to pay mana."

June 21, 2018 4:34 p.m.

Caerwyn says... #4

You're really looking for two different abilities--one for payment, and one for additional costs.

If a spell or ability an opponent controls would cause you to pay mana, pay instead.

The cost of spells you cast and of abilities of permanents you control can't be modified by spells and abilities of permanents you control.

I think those should cover it. The wording could probably use a bit of work.

June 21, 2018 4:56 p.m.

Faiths_Guide says... #5

cdkime, thanks very much!

June 21, 2018 5:04 p.m.

Caerwyn says... #6

Whoops. It should say:

The cost of spells you cast and of abilities of permanents you control can't be modified by spells and abilities of permanents your opponents control.

I was changing the order around some and evidently forgot to update the second half.

June 21, 2018 5:15 p.m.

Caerwyn says... #7

Funkydiscogod

You cannot do that - it would interact toxicly with Glissa Sunseeker and Pygmy Hippo (in multiplayer).

Also, with Dominaria, Wizards stopped using Mana Pool in mana abilities. It would just be: Add .

June 22, 2018 2:29 a.m.

FancyTuesday says... #8

I like cdkime's suggested wording here. The infinite free mana one works, but as pointed out does some unintended things. And you need the clause that prohibits cost modification because the way the game determines cost of spells is blind to this sort of interaction.

That is to say, when the game asks "how much will this spell cost?" as part of casting the spell it doesn't see cost increases as something separate you pay, it's all rolled into what you need to pay to cast the spell. The key words here are "cost more/less to cast," which is distinct from something like Nether Void which does not increase how much it costs to cast the spell, it creates a separate cost you have to pay after you've cast the spell. On balance this is also a good double edged sword since it hurts you in the case of Helm of Awakening and the like.

June 22, 2018 11:38 a.m.

Faiths_Guide says... #9

FancyTuesday, Funkydiscogod, Catalog9000, & cdkime

All great discussion and suggestions guys. However, someone on another site pointed this out to me.

"The problem is how this would layer with things like ghostly prison. Ghostly Prison prevents attacks, meaning the attack never happens if you can't pay for it. It is a static ability and not a triggered one. My wording doesn't take into account that the tax is never really 'on the stack' for them to control, for example. That is why I phrased it as a replacement effect... Hm. It will require some more thought."

I do want it to hose prison effects, so, what now?

June 22, 2018 12:26 p.m.

Faiths_Guide says... #10

Keep in mind, that was with this wording:

If a spell or ability an opponent controls would cause you to pay mana, you may pay {0} instead.

June 22, 2018 12:27 p.m.

Faiths_Guide says... #11

Funkydiscogod

To be honest, I'm simply unsure how it would work. JUDGE!

Is Epochalyptik still around?

June 22, 2018 1:21 p.m.

pizzagod13 says... #12

Why not the following

The mana cost of spells and abilities you control can’t change.

June 22, 2018 2:05 p.m.

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