Good Card Design
General forum
Posted on April 21, 2022, 9:55 a.m. by Icbrgr
What are some cards that you think are just really well designed and good for Magic The Gathering as a whole?
I will go first...
Recently I had Iymrith, Desert Doom/Dragonlord Ojutai suggested for one of my decks and I gotta say I really love these cards. They seems like a very fun finishers.
- Good P/T
- Evasion.
- Decent protection yet still removable.
- Generates value/advantage
To put the focus on Iymrith; I like this card because it does so much and yet still seems "Fair." It's legendary and it just feels legendary if this gets in play. The card advantage is conditional so it cant just sit on the field and let you draw; and yet by attacking it become more vunerable to efficient removal spells. The in the casting cost makes it so it cant be splashed into any deck with a total cost of "Only" five mana" so its still very playable in my opinion for many constructed formats.
I always forget Ankle Shanker exists... that card makes me smile every time I see and read it hahaha
April 21, 2022 12:27 p.m.
I 100% agree on Iymrith, Desert Doom I've been meaning to pick up a copy for a while now because there's so much going on with this card and it all adds up to awesome. Really, I just like combat damage linked to draw because as much as it can get out of hand, it always feels earned. You had to set up, get your things on the board, wait one turn, and then you reap the benefits. It's not like Mystic Remora or Rhystic Study because everyone at the table can see it coming, and maybe they don't get the chance to stop it, but having a turn cycle and having to do combat damage to an opponent make these kind of cards feel good when you get them to go off. Iymrith, Mischievous Catgeist Flip and things like that are draw and they are strong, but I've played a lot of them in one deck and have never had opponents groan at it like they do when someone plays rhystic.
But to add one, a card I've always loved is Soldevi Adnate because I really like cards that can get you back mana. It's not ramp as much as it is a step ladder to get you to something you really want on the turn you really want it, and I always felt that was way more fair than like powering out tron or something.
April 21, 2022 12:38 p.m.
I'm going to interpret "good design" as "easy to understand, balanced while being useful, neither overpowered or underpowered" and advocate for a couple of commons I like. Recoil is simple, but effective removal and a good control option. Consume Strength is a solid combat trick. And of course, it has a close relative that may be the most balanced card ever designed in Giant Growth.
April 21, 2022 1:23 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #6
Some of my favorite cards are ones that have equal parts theme, balance, and utility. Stone Giant is the first example I can think of right now; giving a creature PERILOUS flight (as long as it isn’t too big!) is a great effect, it ends up costing you a creature, and the thought of a giant throwing a goblin at something is extremely enjoyable. Goblin Kites is another great example of this. I understand, and appreciate, the idea of value... but there seem to be more and more creatures that have an extra point of power or toughness, or even something like “sacrifice this creature to draw/create a treasure,” added just to make the card more valuable. It seems, often, like a change made after the fact... just sort of tacked on after some play testing or whatever. That’s what usually bumps a high-value card down on my list. At the completely opposite end of the spectrum, I also love cards that have so little theme/reasoning that they BECOME cool. Examples of this would be Ankh of Mishra or Copper Tablet. How do they work? What do they do? No one knows, because they’re mysterious ancient artifacts that you don’t want to mess with. Those apply equally to all players, so they still meet the “balance” requirement for me. I guess I’m okay with balanced OR themely, now that I think about it. :P
April 21, 2022 5:50 p.m.
I LOVE cards that just drip with flavor like Stone Giant lol
April 21, 2022 5:56 p.m.
As a magic player, I love Stone Giant As someone who has goats, I like that he finally lets goats fly : )
April 22, 2022 7:35 a.m.
I agree with legendofa but I also think that good card design can come from the story behind the character and the way that the card interprets that story into gameplay. Cards like Feldon of the Third Path and Titania, Protector of Argoth are perfect examples of this.
TypicalTimmy says... #2
For me, personally, I say it all boils down to "value". But, since value is subjective as much as objective, what exactly do I mean?
If you're speaking objectively, it's easy to see how a wincon or a set combo piece has value. Anything with repeatable draw is value. If you are combat-focused and a card such as Fervor gives haste on an anthem, that is valuable. Anger, more so, because it costs you nothing other than getting it into the graveyard and having a Mountain.
What I look for when I speak of value is two three key elements:
For example, Dragon Tempest is not only a damage outlet, but a combat enabler. That is some serious value for a deck that wants to throw damage all over the place.
Garruk's Uprising gives large creatures trample and gives you card advantage. If you're already playing a deck with large creatures, and this card isn't in there, you aren't playing it right.
Suppose you are playing a Mardu deck, like Queen Marchesa and you really want to get ahead. You know Necropotence is in there and you know you want to maximize it's potential. You happen to be going Weenies because you want to pad the boardstate. So if you have bodies on field and you know you need to pay life, having lifelink may be a great idea because now you can push damage, gain life, and turn that life into card advantage. You net a fistful of cards, clear the boardstate and push damage through. Therefore, a card such as True Conviction is really good. Your 1/1s hit for 2 and your 2/2s hit for 4. You get dozens of life and draw almost half of your library. Even if you only do it for 1 turn, it's an immense amount of value. Especially with that Ankle Shanker you just played. You may lose out on the second half of lifelink, but now your opponents must be forced into choosing between losing everything to 1 point of damage, or taking 2 or 4 to face.
Value to me is repeatable synergy. But if you don't have something repeatable, cards that go wide and hit everyone are immense. Arterial Flow is my prime example as for just THREE MANA you drop SIX cards, reduce a total of SIX life and you gain a little 2 back.
That's HUGE and it honestly baffles me as to why it isn't played more. If you aren't against graveyard decks, it should be an auto-include in every black deck.
So, to summarize, to me:
April 21, 2022 11:54 a.m. Edited.