I wish wizards did more with allies!
Custom Cards forum
Posted on July 12, 2014, 11:44 p.m. by killroy726
So I have an ally edh deck I just wish wizards did more with them. They have great potential plus I really want an five color general for my deck so I brewed up some ideas tell me what you think! and as a disclaimer I know some if not all of these are not balanced or accurate to begin with.
First, wording things:
"Whenever you cast an Ally (capitalize this) spell, put two (spelled out; unless referring to colorless mana, damage, power, or toughness, always spell out numbers) +1/+1 counters on ~ (which is the shorthand in MSE for "this card's name"), and ~ can't be blocked this turn."
"3, T: Search your library for an Ally card (not spell; things are spells on the stack, permanents on the battlefield, and cards anywhere else), reveal it (when you search for a card with a specific characteristic, it needs to be revealed, so your opponent knows you're not cheating and getting whatever card you want), and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library (put this at the end of any search effect, or else you get to see exactly what you draw for the rest of the game. That would be bad)."
Hexproof doesn't need to be capitalized, unless it's on its own line of text as the first word.
The first line, with a line break, on the Aura needs to be "Enchant creature".
"Enchanted creature has (no colon) "T (now there needs to be a colon): Put a token that's a copy of target creature onto the battlefield (comma), except it's an Ally in addition to its other types and it gains "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this creature."
July 13, 2014 12:01 a.m.
Now, power level/flavor things:
First of all, the two creatures need to have types other than Ally. Ally is a class. The only creatures that are Allies with no other types are the tokens produced by Join the Ranks . Human Warrior Ally, Ogre Shaman Ally, whatever, as long as it's not just Ally.
When Wizards designed Allies, there were basically three types, which they likened to D&D classes: Allies that got bigger when Allies ETB ("Warriors", like Oran-Rief Survivalist ), Allies with abilities that help all Allies ("Clerics", like Kabira Evangel ), and Allies with effects that grew if you had more Allies ("Wizards", like Harabaz Druid ). Keep that in mind when designing Ally cards; the flavor kinda has to align with what exists, or else they're not really Allies, are they?
The legendary should probably line up with the other Warrior-Ally triggers for counters. Also, the abilities on him work against each other; do you want him to be big and attack, or do you want him to tap to get you an Ally to play?
The Shield Mage should probably work like a Cleric, rather than just be a static buff.
The Splinter Twin knockoff seems like an interesting design space, but there are probably power level issues with making it repeatable. Maybe have it only make copies of creatures that are already Allies? Or maybe have it be a Wizard-style Ally creature, and he taps to make a copy of an Ally. Like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker .
July 13, 2014 12:13 a.m.
Lightehammer says... #5
I definitely love my allies. Both my Karona, False God Ally EDH and my jank modern allies are a favorite of mine. However, these up top are a bit generic. I would love to see Allies have a recursion, especially with the return to Zendikar shizzz in the works. And I mean, bringing back slivers? We need tribal fights in Standard. I would think something more like
Arenathus, Champion of the Clans2WUBRG6/3T, Tap 3 Allies you control: search your library for an Ally and put it onto the top of your library. T, Tap 3 Allies you control: You may cast the top card of your library this turn without paying its mana cost.
Personally I think that would do just fine.
Nemesis says... #2
Honestly, my biggest issues with the first two is that they don't feel like Ally cards. If you'll notice, all but 3 allies have their abilities worded so that when they or another ally enters the battlefield, the effect happens. So in the case of the Hexproof guy, I feel like it would be closer to the previous Ally creatures if he gave hexproof to Ally creatures when he or another Ally entered the battlefield.
July 12, 2014 11:59 p.m.