Legitimate abilities?
Custom Cards forum
Posted on March 21, 2015, 10:31 p.m. by Epochalyptik
I decided to open up MSE again and look at some of my work from the past two or three years. I'd like to go back to designing a set (it seems like everyone does, these days), and I think some of these ideas are pretty good. But it's always helpful to get outside opinions.
What do you think?
Veterancy N (Whenever a creature dealt combat damage by this creature this turn dies, put (a) N +1/+1 counters on this creature.)
The first mechanic evokes Sengir Vampire and goes well with vampires, soldiers, and anything else that canonically gets a lot more experienced or hardened with combat. Note that veterancy only pertains to combat damage, so you can't machine gun things with ping abilities and get huge creatures. Most veterancy abilities are veterancy 1, but a few cards do/may have veterancy 2. This mechanic typically appears in 
, with 
and 
representing secondary colors and 
getting an occasional instance.
Reprise [cost] ([cost], Discard this card: Return target instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost less than this card's converted mana cost from your graveyard to your hand.)
This mechanic began as a unique idea, and I took some notes from soulshift and transmute to refine it. It can only return cards with lower CMCs, so it brings some natural balance instead of forcing me to nerf card designs around it. This mechanic appears primarily in 
with seeing secondary inclusion and maybe getting a few instances.
Martyrdom (When this creature dies, if it attacked or blocked this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that attacked or blocked this turn.)
This one I'm not so sure about. It's undergone a few wording changes, and it's one of a number of combat-oriented, //-aligned abilities that I have in my roster. I already have veterancy, which I like, so maybe this gets pushed to another set (not that designing a second set is an easy task)? It's on even shakier ground because veterancy also involves counters. I really like the idea of a few cards having both veterancy and martyrdom, but they shouldn't both be introduced in the same set.
I'm kind of stuck on what to give green because green has kind of been shafted thus far. Veterancy technically does extend into green's slice of the color pie, but I wonder if it's just playing second fiddle at that point.
This set does include a colorless non-artifact creature subtheme with Nomads (which actually do use the tribal designation for enchantments, artifacts, and one land). Maybe I could create an environment-based mechanic to share amongst green and the Nomads? I don't want to copy landfall, but perhaps an ability word based on the number of nonbasics you control?
Actually, I think I do have that.
Tectonic --- [ability]
Tectonic, which gives a nod to Tectonic Edge and the idea of nonbasics in general, is an ability word that produces an effect based on the number of nonbasic lands you control (might be modified to include all nonbasics on the battlefield).
The set is largely environment-focused, so land already plays an important role. I don't feel that this idea could be too much of a stretch.
Let me know what you think!
I love the tectonic ability, reprise I'm not to sure on, feel like it could be underwhelming depending on what you put it on and how much it costs. Martyrdom seems amazing in a token deck and veterancy is cool but I'm interested in mostly is how you will fit it into green.
March 21, 2015 10:40 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #4
Tectonic gets all my votes. Are you going to have lots of utility lands/make this set multicoloured?
March 21, 2015 10:42 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #5
Agreed on the everyone-making-a-set part. It's the cycle of life, I suppose.
Veterency looks very fun, though tokens I feel would probably abuse it.
Reprise just seems like a worse transmute, since you can only get cards from your graveyard. I would probably make the cost very low for it, but it's a fine idea.
Martyrdoom seems a bit... underpowered, I guess. Also, I feel like it would be better if the ability reads "When this creatures dies because of a spell or ability controlled by an opponent, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control" (sorry for the terrible wording), just because it's more flavorful and makes more sense with the keyword.
Finally, are you asking for suggestions for a green ability?
March 21, 2015 10:44 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #6
Price of Progress says hello.
- Ingenious Mapping —
- Sorcery
- Tectonic — Draw X cards, where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control.
- What an ingenious map this is! Every aspect of all the notable land marks are here in fine detail!
- One With the Land —
- Instant
- Tectonic — Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control.
- Harvest of the Land —
- Sorcery
- Tectonic — You gain 2*X life, where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control.
- "This is a fertile land. We shall call this land. This Land."
- Eruptions in the Mountains —
- Instant
- Tectonic — Eruptions in the Mountains deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control.
- Sulfurous Fumes ‐
- Enchantment &mdash Aura
- Enchanted creature
- Tectonic — Enchanted creature gets -X/-X, where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control.
- Centerpoint Landmark
- Land
- Centerpoint Landmark enters the battlefield tapped.
- When Centerpoint Landmark enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you return an untapped land you control to its owner's hand.
- Tectonic —
: Add X colourless mana to your mana pool where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control. - The boundaries of all lands seem to somehow start and end right here.
March 21, 2015 10:55 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #7
Femme someone has to hire you as a flavor text writer...
Oh, and Centerpoint Landmark is OP as f***
March 21, 2015 10:57 p.m.
Yeah seriously gives vintage shops another Mishra's Workshop.
March 21, 2015 11:02 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
@sirbar: Current green veterancy cards include a wolf pack that has veterancy 1 and copies itself for its veterancy triggers. That one is fairly new, so I might change it up a bit as I go along.
@Femme_Fatale: I'm trying to exercise some restraint in that department for the time being. The set isn't yet heavily multicolored; it's mostly mono with several multis for flavor and variance. But large parts of the canon revolve around individuals, groups, and locations that are multi-aligned ( is the most significant one so far, but , , and are working their way into the design space pretty quickly.
The Nomads I mentioned earlier help to integrate the idea of tectonic into the set, mechanically speaking. Nomads are a colorless tribe that wander from region to region, bring together different samples of the color pie (nothing game-breaking), and have a few effects based on land count, nonbasic land count, and pseudo-landfall.
I'm not really looking for card proposals at this time, (see my note in the next section). I'm looking mostly for feedback on the abilities regarding whether they seem viable and how they might be OP/UP.
@FAMOUSWATERMELON: I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm looking for proposals for a green ability. When it comes to Magic, I prefer to come up with my own ideas and then refine them through review.
I think tectonic will fit the bill for green, but maybe someone has a different stance?
March 21, 2015 11:05 p.m.
From what you are describing, it feels like you are building a set much like innistrad. Some of the abilities have a close feel to those in innistrad in addition to the fact that you are making it mono-colored with gold cards for flavour. *tips hat, very good my friend.
March 21, 2015 11:11 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #11
I want in on this set, if only to suggest cards for Tectonic. And I really think Tectonic should be an across all colours, something that binds the set together. It is sort of like landfall or allies in that it doesn't have a specific colour flavour, and it wouldn't fit with any one colour pie's ideals. However, if that doesn't fit with the set's lore that's fine. But I'm so totally wanting your permission to use this idea myself :3
If you give me more information as to the lore of the set I can create a green like.
March 21, 2015 11:28 p.m.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #12
I think everyone can get tectonic, but it also acts well as a green ability... Maybe green could have ramp for non-basic lands, with slightly stronger/more tectonic abilities present than in other colors.
March 21, 2015 11:36 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #13
Okay, advice...
Veterency, do you have perhaps effects that go well with stuff that applies to +1/+1 counters/fight effects/deathtouch effects/stuff that synergizes with Veterency? Because from my vantage point, it just seems a little underpowered without just a small boost if you are leaving it as mainly something with Veterency 1 and the occasional veterency 2. Though I understand that putting it at any higher than 1 can cause tremendous problems in terms of balancing.
Martydom seems like it can be abused far too easily. I'd like it to say nontoken creatures.
Reprise I don't have many suggestions, besides the fact that it will have a tendency to increase the mana cost of spells. You'd end up having 2 or 3 cmc bolts and 3-5 cmc counterspells. It seems to me to be more of an ability for style control decks in that they house a lot of 1-of silver bullets in the main. You can give these silver bullets reprise so that they aren't dead matches in every game. Is this instant or sorcery speed? I think that is something to take into account here.
Tectonic, I have no suggestions beyond to keep it as an ability across all colours since no colour has a specific nonbasic land preference ideal in their colour pie ideal portion.
March 21, 2015 11:38 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #14
Tectonic will likely see instances in all colors, but it's primarily going to be green with red as a possible secondary.
I think I want this to be a solo project in the initial stages, but you're free to borrow inspiration from it. I'll likely post the entire spoiler whenever I finish it and leave it up for community review.
March 21, 2015 11:43 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #15
I'm already working on ways to make veterancy more utilitarian. One of the first cards I designed during this project is:
March 21, 2015 11:48 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
Triple post, woo.
Reprise is instant speed for now. Given that it has a cost, I'm alright with that. I'm still waiting to see how it pans out in practice, so I may change my mind later.
March 21, 2015 11:54 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #17
Veterancy seems like just putting a word onto a mechanic that has been around since the start. It's basically making Mill become the named mechanic, which I guess Wizards just doesn't want to do that. Anyways, for Orzhov colors to have +1/+1 counter manipulation like that seems a bit odd. Out of all colors, Black and White kinda does this the least. Green is the big contender, Blue got big with it whenever Simic became a thing, and Red a bit less so but things like Ashling the Pilgrim sure love it. I do know how Sengir Vampire was inspiration, but I guess it just seems odd to try and work with those colors in that theme.
Reprise seems like it could be interesting, but first thing I thought of was annoying Grixis control decks abusing that effect to reuse their counters and other spells with ease. I guess there is a reason why spell recursion is a bit costly in a way. I do like the premise, but be careful where it might lead.
Martyrdom seems a bit complex to utilize as a mechanic and maybe even a bit OP in some circumstances. Also the whole "least used colors for +1/+1", Mardu comes to mind as well of course. That's just color pie stuff anyways, probably am wrong about it but just from what I've seen I don't see much in White and Black.
Tectonic I could imagine actually doing some interesting stuff, only problem is that if it is a major part of the set then red would be the best color to use due to the big amount of anti-nonbasic lands they have out there. Simple Blood Moon will ruin any Tectonic Deck. I do like the idea of utilizing nonbasic, but I always felt like what exactly is the benefits you get rather than the lands being more useful? You're giving benefits to something that already is changed to be beneficial.
...I mean, just my opinions and such, I guess I felt a bit harsh with it but being in the middle of making a set and all I guess I feel I've had to be a bit more critical on things.
March 22, 2015 9 a.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #18
Also I know about Bolster and such being Abzan, which has black and white, yet I still don't know exactly why did those colors get +1/+1 counters...I also know about Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter who was probably inspiration for that one card, but just from personal experience I've seen Red, blue, green have more +1/+1 counters. I might just be being stupid and not knowing anything but I guess I just want to say things for once...
March 22, 2015 9:24 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #19
KalvinHobbez is right in a sense. White has access to a total of 136 cards that say "+1/+1 counter" on it. A VERY large portion of these cards come from the Khans block. All of the sudden white now has access to +1/+1 counters. Black has 177, once again, mostly in recent sets, particularly Khans, but you could say it started in Innistrad. Red has 157, but no particular prevalence of these cards appear in any one set. Blue has the least at 93. Most of these, like he stated, seemed to be implemented from the Simic cards of RTR set. Green is obviously the top one, having a wopping 332 cards.
March 22, 2015 9:34 a.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #20
Which I still find it funny how I love Simic...but never got why those colors had +1/+1 counters as its main thing. I did notice that recently pretty much all colors except blue and red have been getting +1/+1 counter manipulation due to the rise of Khans. Ghave, Guru of Spores was basically the originally hardcore Abzan styled card, be he was the only one really doing that.
March 22, 2015 9:37 a.m.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #21
Blackwatch Paladin seems a little on the strong side, but probably fine since it's mythic. Also, nice set symbol...
March 22, 2015 9:45 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #22
@KalvinHobbez: It didn't feel harsh at all.
I did note as much in my original post. There's nothing wrong with keywording an existing ability, provided there's a legitimate reason to do so. Take "dies" for example. If it's a long ability that you intend to use repeatedly, it may make sense to keyword it. I've seen plenty of people propose keywords for obscure or otherwise inappropriate mechanics, and I don't think this is one of those situations.
Speaking on the color assignment of veterancy, I believe it does make sense for white and black to have access to a mechanic based on +1/+1 counters. The idea of the mechanic is ultimately to have creatures grow based on their combat experience (hence the name). Previously, this mechanic was written out longform and found mostly on or cards with some splashes in and even (Zurgo Helmsmasher). It was also mostly limited to vampiric creatures. Despite this, I think there's definitely room for white to have access to the mechanic given the new intent. It's much like how Simic used +1/+1 counters to better represent the idea of evolution and adaptation, or how bolster and outlast represent the idea of reinforcements.
I'm taking care to balance reprise, and I think it's a good, if powerful, mechanic so far.
For tectonic, you have to remember that sets are designed with the focus on Limited first and foremost, and with considerations made for other formats. Mechanics are typically created for a mix of flavor and internal function. Their implications in a larger context may be considered, but it isn't necessary that every mechanic be tier-one viable in every format or even in any format (besides Limited).
That said, some tectonic cards can certainly be relevant in other formats. You wouldn't build a deck around it. You would add a few tectonic cards to decks that could, as they currently are, benefit from the nonbasic-matters effects. Modern in particular might benefit from certain cards because of the prevalence of shocks and fetches. The fact that Blood Moon exists doesn't change much of anything in the design space.
As for nonbasic lands being more useful, it's a toss-up. Yes, they tend to have additional utility stapled to them, but that utility often comes at the cost of tempo or difficulty in balancing the deck's land setup. Further, nonbasic lands are much more vulnerable to a number of important and prevalent effects, such as that of Blood Moon or Wasteland, so it shouldn't necessarily be said that they're strictly more beneficial.
I actually didn't think of Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter while designing Blackwatch Paladin. I started with the idea of having a utility creature and making it a Knight of some kind, per Pentarch Paladin (when I first got into the game, I played Knight tribal), and I conceptualized the Blackwatch as I went along. There's a fair amount of lore for the set, actually, but it would take a long time to type out here, and there are some holes in certain areas that I'm trying to fill as I look at what the colors and regions are doing in the design.
March 22, 2015 1:52 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #23
@ABadMagicPlayer100: It's certainly strong, but I don't think it's overpowered. Also, it's mythic mostly for Limited reasons; I'm intentionally avoiding the designer's trap of making only powerful rares and mythics, but this is one of the cards that qualifies as powerful both objectively and within the context of Limited.
I go back and forth on the set symbol.
March 22, 2015 1:54 p.m.
Reprise is pretty awesome. I'd play spells with reprise for sure. At instant speed, just amazing
March 22, 2015 2:03 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #25
I guess it just seems odd to basically let all colors gain legitimate access to something primarily only Green should have. Colors are there for a reason to have advantages and disadvantages and +1/+1 counters is one of Green's. I can see the flavor of getting better at battle can work in, but I've seen Mardu do combat oriented buffing outside of +1/+1 counters. I'd say it's a mechanic that probably could be nice to give it a name and built around, but at least give it Green in some way so decks that utilize green +1/+1 counters will have no reason to be green any more. You probably could make it a Jund colored mechanic and it'd actually fit it really well in colors.
Well if you do plan on having this set be draft and such, I can understand Tectonic being more viable in its own set. I could imagine, if for the sake of getting rid of stuff like Blood Moon, you could actually print a card that is specifically a reference and counteraction to it. Like maybe "New Moon" that makes all Mountains become a land of your choice. Just a little idea to have some more defense to Tectonic viability.
I am kind of curious what is the color planning of your set as well. It seems like most of your mechanics shown have been white, black, and a bit red. Is it just because those are the mechanics you've had so far or is it a set based on those colors or something?
March 22, 2015 4:09 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #26
How about putting a 1/1 token into play and renaming the veterency mechanic to something else
March 22, 2015 4:21 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #27
Well maybe the mechanic could be like Threshold where it changes from creature to creature then. Like some might gain you life if they kill a creature, others might make a token, maybe a mythic lets you gain control of the killed creature. Could be called Deathly Benefit or something?
March 22, 2015 4:23 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #28
Here's the basic color/mechanic distribution for the set so far:
White:
Primary: Veterancy
Blue:
Primary: Reprise
Secondary: Scry
Black:
Primary: Veterancy
Tertiary: Reprise
Red:
Secondary: Tectonic
Secondary: Veterancy
Secondary: Reprise
Green:
Primary: Tectonic
Secondary: Veterancy
Red has a splash of each mechanic because of the way they overlap in the color pie. Tectonic is the "primary" mechanic thematically, but the card counts for each mechanic are reduced in red to allow more breathing room.
Blue gets scry as a returning mechanic to help mitigate its mechanic deficit compared to the other colors. I'm not sure whether I should do anything for white and black in that department because veterancy does offer significant pressure in a Limited environment when used correctly.
@KalvinHobbez: I'm still don't find that there's a convincing reason to reassign veterancy to a primarily green mechanic. I'm aware that +1/+1 counters have tended to be a green thing until very recently, but I think the ability speaks more to white and black as primary colors, and I don't think that +1/+1 counters are the kind of thing that really need to be rigidly segregated within the color pie. They're not like counterspells, which are primarily blue, or enchantment hate, which is primarily white and green. Counters are just a way of marking indefinite boosts to creatures, and they're not really tied solidly to one color in a canonical way.
Veterancy is also tied more closely to white and black for the reasons stated earlier. It's certainly applicable in green, and there are a couple of instances of veterancy there so far (same for red), but when you think of combat veterans in fantasy worlds, you tend to think of knights, soldiers, and the other steteotypical / creatures.
@Femme_Fatale: I tend not to like token-producing mechanics because they are always in danger of being either overused and oppressive or underused and weak. They're the kind of thing that are best written out when appropriate. Also, tokens don't really fit into the lore in the same way that veterancy does; the lore of the set is focused on groups of more seasoned beings surviving in a fairly wild and unpredictable environment.
@KalvinHobbez: I already have one ability word in the set in tectonic; I'd like the other mechanics to have a little more definition. While your proposal is certainly more flexible, I wonder whether there are really enough reasons to vary the effect to justify shifting from keyword to ability word. It may be worth pursuing, though, and I'll keep the option in mind going forward.
March 22, 2015 4:54 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #29
Wouldn't letting red have a touch of every mechanic give it an innate advantage in the set then? Also both White and Black having the same primary seems to make the colors really oddly balanced in keywords. Most sets seem to give each color their own little theme or at least have dual color set (Ravnica) or triple color set (Khans and Alara) that have those groups have a theme. What exactly are the color groupings for your set?
March 22, 2015 4:59 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #30
Another downside of an ability word replacement for veterancy is that it can't be conferred to creatures as easily. Keywords can be granted through static or triggered abilities without much ugly templating.
I'm seeing where red goes and then making a more informed decision as its portion of the design space develops. It may be that I end up pulling a mechanic from its wheelhouse and making one of the remaining mechanics a primary.
The set is largely monocolored with some emphasis on , , , , and so far. There are still ideas that are being developed, though, and none of the multicolored groups have significant representation yet.
White has the lion's share of veterancy, but black has a couple strong veteran creatures. I may end up sliding black slightly more toward reprise to compensate for this.
March 22, 2015 5:04 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #31
Oh that's weird to have a portion of ally colors and a portion of enemy colors as the focus. Is there a certain creature type or theme underlying for each duo color? If not, it would be difficult to really nail down what exactly will you be making rather than just throwing cards in it would seem.
March 22, 2015 5:13 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #32
Creature types aren't yet finalized. I'm focusing on humans for now because I have a more complete idea of where they fit in the design space, and I'm working additional creatures in as opportunities arise. But the demarcations aren't really about the creatures. They're about the ideologies of the various regions. It happens that these five color pairs best represent the plane and the groups that have formed within it.
Also, I think it's more significant that the colors each have a primary monocolored purpose and two representations in color pairs. The fact that there are some allied and some enemy pairs is less relevant, in my opinion. It's too restrictive to think of the game in terms of allied and enemy pairs all of the time; you don't have to have all allied or all enemy or all shard or all wedge color combinations to create balance.
Here's a quick summary of the color pairs that are being developed:
represents the Blackwatch, which are an ancient and authoritarian order working to preserve the ideas of a precursor race of angels thought to have established peace in the first days. They are fair in judgment, but quick to execute significant threats to the plane.
represents the wild northeastern quadrant of the plane, which is unstable due to mountain erosion by powerful mana flows and general conflict by territorial creatures.
represents the calmer, yet still wild central northern and general midland region of the plane. Vast tracts of these sectors are steppeland in which some humans farm or form small towns. Influence from the primordial western forest is clear.
represents the eastern coast of the plane's mainland, which is dominated by inhospitable cliffs, drake nests, and small pools of a precious clairvoyance-boosting substance called clearwater.
represents a dangerous guild pursuing the secrets of time and death through the exploitation of clearwater and some of the plane's residents. Their efforts are contributing to instability in the northeastern quadrant and in the central western region (which is a wide marsh between the largest forest and the largest black-aligned necropolis).
I'm also wondering about 's role in the design space, and I'm interested in seeing how it might develop and possibly supplant one of the other color pairs. Maybe that's something to pursue in a followup set as a development of instability in the west.
March 22, 2015 5:38 p.m.
KalvinHobbez says... #33
I've just seen it work out better in the long run with using colors in working orders with ally colors and all, but I'm probably real wrong about that. I mean official sets kind of go by those rules so I assume it just works better. You mentioned each color will have a primary purpose and have two representations...so wouldn't that let there be good viability for triple color matches then? Will they be much fooling around with that?
March 22, 2015 5:42 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #34
All allied or all enemy pairs are attractive because there are natural, established tropes for those groupings and because it's less challenging to balance them in the design space, but you can still do a lot with mixed pairs. Look at the way they did Ravnica (both times, actually). They introduced some allied and some enemy pairs and maintained balance by making sure that the total representation of each color was pretty even.
As for tricolor alignments, I don't really think so. The plane doesn't really lend itself to that kind of organization geographically or ideologically. There may be some similarities between the various monocolored or bicolored groups, but that doesn't make them canonically compatible. Wedges and shards are also much harder to work with in my opinion because you're increasing the pressure on yourself to represent each color accurately and fairly.
March 22, 2015 6:08 p.m.
@KalvinHobbez I too was going to mention the absence of strictly ally or strictly enemy color combinations, but then I realized that his set of color combinations still has an even color distributions. If you examine them altogether, you'll notice their are two of each mana pip. It is for that reason that I would disagree with adding another color combination as suggest with .
I think that Blackwatch Paladin scores an 8/10 on the power level scale, where mythics should shoot for 7. Being an 8 isn't a bad thing, and just means that it's probably one of the top three biggest bombs in the set. Deathtouch and lifelink with a pinging ability like that is pretty insane. My only suggestion is to strongly limit the ability for a deck to spam +1/+1 counters on it, as it alone would be able to field-wipe the opponent constantly while gaining a lot of life. It also depends on how much removal your set will have overall. Allowing strong +1/+1 counter synergy with him might be perfectly reasonable if you have several removal spells spanning multiple colors at the common rarity that can deal with him and other equally powerful bomb drops.
How would you describe the power of the removal in your set in general? In your set, how costly is it to "destroy target creature?" Perhaps instead your removal is mostly in the form of -X/-X effects, giving more power to midrange strategies and promoting a strong permanent-based metagame. Maybe, instead, your set has its own variation of Murder along with cards like Doom Blade, Go for the Throat and Path to Exile. In such heavy-attrition fields, very strong creatures have less of a window to breathe and more powerful creatures become reasonable. In my most recent sets, I've been exploring weak removal bases and I think I prefer it, even as someone who's a diehard "Wafotappian" draw/go control player. I think that weak removal leads to more complex board states and a stronger sense of synergy.
March 22, 2015 11:05 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #36
Removal is still being worked on. I currently have a destroy equivalent of Shard Volley for 
and a couple -/- effects. There's a Banisher Priest with veterancy 1. I'm not sure whether I want to reprint an existing removal spell or create a new one.
I may modify Blackwatch Paladin to have a or 
activation cost on the last ability.
March 23, 2015 6:02 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #37
The comment was more for a sequel set to help demonstrate the progression of the plane's lore; I hadn't intended to change the way the set is currently balanced.
March 23, 2015 6:04 p.m.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #38
It seems like there is a strong +1/+1 counter theme, so maybe you could have a "destroy target creature with (or without depending on what you need for balance) a +1/+1 counter?"
March 23, 2015 6:47 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #39
Good idea. Reminds me of Rite of the Serpent and Hunter of Eyeblights. I might make that a very minor subtheme.
March 23, 2015 7 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #40
One of the big questions I have now is whether I make duals according to the traditional ally or enemy cycles or break from tradition and make duals to support the pairs I actually use. I feel like I should choose the latter, and, looking at things from the block perspective, it would follow that equivalents could be emphasized in the second set.
March 23, 2015 11:03 p.m.
Absolutely choose the latter. Theros's lands have two ally and three enemy. RTR had three ally and two enemy. There's certainly nothing wrong with that.
March 24, 2015 12:30 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #42
Done deal. I'll post some more card designs in a bit.
March 24, 2015 1:43 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #43
I'm currently looking at a cycle of duals that ETB tapped unless you control a basic and another nonbasic. Thoughts?
March 24, 2015 2:04 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #44
Eh ... they'd have to have another upside. Like maybe gain a life.
March 24, 2015 2:07 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #45
I don't know if that's necessary. They'd basically be like the reverse of fast lands. I guess it's not great that they can't ETB untapped on turn 1 or 2, but they can still do so later.
March 24, 2015 2:25 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #46
Provided that you have lots of nonbasics in the set.
March 24, 2015 2:38 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #47
There are a fair number. I don't have any common or uncommon lands, though. I guess I should get on that or convert the current cycle to uncommon.
March 24, 2015 3:02 a.m.
Are you doing just one dual land cycle or two? Just curious.
March 24, 2015 3:13 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #49
I kind of wanted to represent the main cities with legendary mono lands, but that may mean the one dual cycle ends up being relegated to uncommon. Or I could just do 15 rare lands total with 5 legendaries and 5 duals in the first set. Plus one or two other rare lands for general utility. That's pushing it, though.
March 24, 2015 3:25 a.m.
Every time that I've made a cycle of legendary mono-colored lands representing civilizations, which has been three times, I've always ended up regretting it. Unless you have a really badass design in mind... If they're not good enough, no deck will play them, and if they are good enough, every deck will play one of them in their color. It's kind of like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in Standard. If you're playing a deck with black in it, you almost always just include an urborg just because. If you ever considered just making utility lands like the Innistrad block's cylce of Gavony Township, Kessig Wolf Run, Stensia Bloodhall, Nephalia Drownyard, Moorland Haunt, Alchemist's Refuge, Desolate Lighthouse, Slayers' Stronghold, Grim Backwoods, and Vault of the Archangel, then I feel like that's a much better use of your rare land slots. Deck builders usually put more thought into whether or not to put in one of those utility lands than whether or not to put in an urborg, and that fact alone makes me feel like they're a better choice.
I could be completely wrong though, depending on the design you have in mind for your legendary civilizations. Maybe I'm ranting for no reason because your civilizations are actually utility lands themselves like Pendelhaven. XD
I guess my main point is just to try and avoid something like Urborg.
Epochalyptik says... #2
I realize now that the parentheses in the second and third abilities are missing. I'll edit those in for you all later.
March 21, 2015 10:35 p.m.