Custom Keyword: Ignite

Custom Cards forum

Posted on Oct. 25, 2019, 9:25 p.m. by StopShot

Ignite N is a keyword for instants & sorceries as well as activated & triggered abilities of permanents. "N" can be any number which will be specified on each card that has it such as, "Ignite 1," "Ignite 2," "Ignite 3," etc.

To Ignite N you must exile N cards from your hand and/or nonland permanents you control facedown, then you draw a card for every two facedown cards you own in exile. Until the end of your next turn you may look at and play only one card exiled this way.

Ignite is intended to be another way for red to draw cards without breaking the color pie by merging concepts found in cards such as Light Up the Stage and Cathartic Reunion . Initially ignite starts out as a bad trade as you have to throw away 2 cards in order to draw 1 in return, but the more facedown cards you can accumulate in exile the more cards you'll be able to draw off of consecutive ignitions.

Ignite can be used outside of red too, for example in black there could be a three mana black sorcery that reads, "Target opponent Ignites 2." which would be comparable to cards such as Mind Rot and Doomfall . In this case the opponent would have to choose and exile 2 cards from their hand and/or nonland permanents they control facedown, however they would also cantrip afterwards and would be able to recast one of the two cards that was removed on their next turn.

Ignite can also be used as a drawback if a high ignite cost is added to a strong card like, "as an additional cost to cast this spell, Ignite 5." which would require that you have 5 resources to exile in order to cast the spell. Furthermore it can be used as a balanced effect as well that requires all players to ignite, such as an enchantment that reads; "At the beginning of your upkeep each player Ignites 2."

What are your thoughts? How sparingly or openly should an effect like this be used if implemented? Do you think this effect would work/fit better in another color? Should cards that feature Ignite be expensive or cheap to cast or should there be some other restriction to keep it from being too weak/over-powered?

shadow63 says... #2

Seems overly complex. You have to have two piles of facedown exiled cards plus a pile of face up exiled cards and your losing a ton of cards off the top of your deck without getting much for it. This could work well in a digital card game but it would be a mess in paper

October 26, 2019 2:47 a.m.

Boza says... #3

Well, face-down cards in exile can be a resource.

Pyre N (Exile up to N non-land, non-token permanents and/or cards in your hand facedown. Draw cards equal to half the facedown cards you own in exile, rounded down.)

Simple and to the point - replace your hand or battlefield with fresh cards off the top. However, this can work only if it is the only mechanic that counts the number of cards facedown in exile.

November 19, 2019 8:01 a.m.

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