Use your life as mana?
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Aug. 4, 2013, 12:34 a.m. by LayWhoZayHer
This would be a good concept if they haven't done this type of card yet, but here it is!
Cost: 1BG
Rarity: Rare
Type: Enchantment
Description: Pay 2 life: Add one mana of any color in your mana pool.
And, to remind people why this was a bad idea in the first place, Fireball .
August 4, 2013 12:42 a.m.
Well, 20 years later and Channel is still restricted in Vintage format.
T1- Black Lotus , Mountain , Channel paying 19 life, Fireball for 20
Considering other cards that can be added in now requiring less life to be paid allowing easier survival if it got countered by FoW and Kaervek's Torch or now Banefire replacing Fireball to make it harder to counter or even uncounterable, yes, still OP
August 4, 2013 12:52 a.m.
It could be. Maybe borderline in older formats, but the things it could do to Standard and Modern would be a bit off the charts. How would you feel if I put down a Birds of Paradise T1, cast this thing T2, then paid 14 life to cast Karn Liberated or 16 to cast Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and took your only land away?
August 4, 2013 12:59 a.m.
Yes, and all I need to do is play a mana dork on Turn 1, then play a 2nd land and cast the enchantment on Turn 2. After that it's activation cost is only 2 life.
August 4, 2013 1:02 a.m.
I don't think more life is the way to go. By the time you balance the amount of life to be worth it, the card may be unplayable.
I'd set a once a turn restriction, and maybe make it colorless mana instead. Even then, could still be too powerful.
August 4, 2013 1:08 a.m.
I think the once per turn restriction would probably balance it out alright. If you go with more life, you start to look at whether 3 life for one mana of any color is still overpowered or if 4 life is too costly or if 4 life should net you 2 colorless mana.
August 4, 2013 1:48 a.m.
I think the once per turn thing actually makes it unplayable. Think about it. For 3 colorless mana you could get say, a Golgari Keyrune , which not only gives colored mana, but also doesn't cost life, and is also activated once per turn. Its less mana intensive and more efficient, plus it has another ability (to become a creature, or in the case of cluestones, draw a card). Seeing as these cards, which would be better in almost every way, see almost no play outside of limited, I can't see this being very popular. There is a reason that no Channel remakes exist.
August 4, 2013 6:58 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #13
How about making it so that you get to pay more life as it goes on. And Bestach, I see Mox Opal as a balanced remake of the moxes, so anything is possible.
"New Channel" 1BG
Artifact
~ comes into play with one charge counter.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a charge counter on ~.
T, pay X life: Add X of any combination of colors to your mana pool where X is the number of charge counters on ~.
August 4, 2013 8:10 a.m.
That does seem a little more balanced, because it is basically the equivalent of an extra land each turn. Would be very powerful, but possibly not broken. I can see it being a possibility.
August 4, 2013 6:39 p.m.
Although I should add that this seems more like an artifact or creature, and seems more in the style of Mana Bloom than Channel , just with a life cost added, and the bounce and counter removal taken off. But Mana Bloom is an enchantment too, so it could work.
MagicalHacker says... #2
Channel
August 4, 2013 12:40 a.m.