Card Draw Custom Cards

Custom Cards forum

Posted on March 26, 2020, 6:25 p.m. by StopShot

These are some concepts that came to my mind. I'll provide the card text for each card, and I'd like to know what the mana cost for each one should be to make it fair and balanced.

Card A

Upon casting this spell choose an opponent who controls three or more lands. That player may pay to counter this spell. (If an opponent can not be chosen counter this spell instead.)

Draw three cards and untap all permanents the chosen player controls.


Card B

Draw 3 cards. Each opponent then scries 3 and chooses one:

-Return a land you control to its owner's hand and draw a card.

-Create three treasure tokens and exile the top two cards of your library.

-Shuffle your library and scry 1 three times.


Card C

Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it on top of its owner's library instead of into that player's graveyard. Each player may then shuffle their library and draw a card.


Card D

Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player exiles the top card of their library. Until the beginning of that player's end step he or she may cast that card.

Whenever an opponent casts a spell from their graveyard or exile, you may draw a card.


Card E

Creatures you control have vigilance and deathtouch.

: All creatures lose deathtouch until end of turn and you draw a card. Only your opponents can activate this ability and no more than once each turn. (The player who controls this permanent is the one that draws the card.)


Card F

Equipped creature has hexproof, indestructible and can not attack the player that owns this equipment.

Equip—Discard a card.

: Attach this equipment to a creature you control. The owner of this equipment draws a card. This ability can only be activated by your opponents once each turn and only at any time they could cast a sorcery. (The owner of this equipment can't activate this ability.)

shadow63 says... #2

Are these meant to cost zero?

March 26, 2020 8:19 p.m.

StopShot says... #3

@shadow63, No, I'm posting the card concepts and asking people here what converted mana costs they would give these cards.

March 26, 2020 8:52 p.m.

Boza says... #4

Card A - no plausible mana cost. The effect is too good and the downside is negligable. The card asks the question - does the opponent have two or less open mana. If yes, then cast this spell. The drawback of untapping is not enough.

Card B - no plausible mana cost. All those negative effects are almost nothing compared to drawing 3 cards.

Card C - , provided you also draw a card from the effect, which will be better for the card. If it stays as is, is fine.

Card D - enchantment. Honestly, for such a symmetrical effect, a low cost is fine. However, I am not sure there is a situaiton, in 1v1 when I would play that card. Fine for multiplayer.

Card E - firstly, the player who controls the ability gets to draw a card. You have to specify the card owner draws if you want it to work that way. Possible mana cost - enchantment.

Card F - Mana cost . A bit too close to Assault Suit, but I like that you specified here that the owner draws a card, unlike the other card.

If I had to rank these, card C is the best, with E and D trailing far behind, then F, A, and B, since they either should not exist as is or just need more.

March 27, 2020 4:03 a.m.

Tzefick says... #5

Boza There is no way that card A and B has no plausible mana cost. Concentrate draws 3 for 4 mana. Put either of A and B into a 4 CMC and it will never see play. That means for it to be worthwhile it would need a CMC of 3 or less. Now a 2 CMC draw 3 is almost certainly too good, riding dangerously close to Ancestral Recall, so I'd think 3 CMC is where these would be at.

Card C, I agree on 3 CMC, be it or . It rides close to Remand but is borderline a functional reprint of Lapse of Certainty or Memory Lapse. You will almost always shuffle and draw, while the opponent will have to value the countered card against card draw.

Card D. Cheap is where it's at. You provide your opponents with additional options and only if they take advantage of it do you gain a benefit. Only other situation is when you Braingeyser a player to push for lethal.

Actually the more I think about it, the more it seems like a Nekusar, the Mindrazer card where you just want to wheel and make people draw with Teferi's Puzzle Box to mill them out if the damage plan doesn't work out.

Card E: I would go for a 4 CMC. Vigilance and Deathtouch are a powerful combination and losing Deathtouch (for all creatures, not just yours) in trade of a card seems like a fair trade in many situations. The wording would have to specify that the controller of Card E draws a card - otherwise the opponent who activates it draws the card.

"All creatures lose deathtouch until end of turn and Card E's controller draw a card. Only your opponents can activate this ability and no more than once each turn."

Since deathtouch is very much a black/green ability and vigilance is present in white/green, you can go for either a monogreen version or a combination of black and white or black and green. I would never make it green and white as it doesn't have the right flavor. That color combination is often more about building up, community and society - not tricks (outside stat buffing combat tricks). To me the black and white pairing is the most flavorful, as black grants the deathtouch but is also willing to trade an advantage/resource for power - hence the card draw. The flavor in a monogreen seems a bit off. So I would go with .

Card F, I don't like the specification on the owner instead of controller of the equipment. If an opponent yoinks it with say Grip of Phyresis, they don't get any benefit from the card's abilities. I would make it somewhat like this:

Card F Show

This is more a shared Lightning Greaves for the protective measures it grants than any offensive capabilities like Assault Suit - I view in the perspective of multiplayer. I doubt it'll do more than allow people to save a creature they control when they decide to board wipe. The opponents will immediately realize (hopefully) that if they fight for use of it, they'll give the controller way too much value, so they'll just ignore it. At least that's my take on it. But then again I've been in plenty of games where people take the offer of Tempt with Discovery and I facepalm every time, when the caster goes to find Cabal Coffers, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Gaea's Cradle or similar.

May 12, 2020 5:46 a.m.

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