Is Mox Azurite a balanced card? If not, how can I change it while still supporting Dream and keeping the design of Mox remakes (e.g. Mox Diamond, Mox Amber, Mox Tantalite)

A lot of people on this site will often try to make a 'balanced mox cycle', and I can't say I've tried, but it doesn't seem to normally work out.

Anyway, for this card specifically, I really like the take you have on it here, restricting when you can play it is pretty awesome.

The only problem is that during a player's untap step, all of their permanents untap.

This means that if you have a creature and decide not to untap it, you can get this out. That might not even be a problem, since stopping a creature from untapping might not be worth 1 mana of any color... also, you can't play this turn 1, which is definitely a good thing...

So, it might not be too powerful. However, if this required the creature to untap at any point except your untap step, then this would definitely not be too strong (you'd have to use resources to untap them, rather than the game just doing it).

That could actually be a bit weak, though, considering you'd virtually be spending more resources than you're getting... which is very good, since that avoids too much mana ramp... but it might also be outclassed by just playing the game normally.

All-in-all, I'd say this needs to be playtested to be certain, but my guess is this is probably okay.

Regardless of balance changes you may later make, this is a neat interpretation. Also Mox Azurite is an awesome choice for a 'dream mox', very cool!

@Froggychum: I've seen a couple mox remakes that looked fun to play with (albeit broken) and wanted to give it a try.

As for your suggestion of not allowing this card to be played during your untap step, I will definitely test that idea if the card turns out to be too strong. However, seeing as it's a mythic rare, and often mythic rares in recent sets are waaaay over the top (Uro, Oko, etc.), I thought it might be okay to indulge myself in the beginning.

Also, whereas that limitation might make it more balanced, it would also make it feel less like a mox remake. All of the mox remakes that I've seen have been traditional moxes with a single ability as a drawback (even some of the WotC ones; Mox Tantalite, Chrome Mox, Mox Opal), so making this one more complicated takes away from the fun of it.

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I'm ashamed to admit it, but I spend like an hour looking at different gems on the internet to find the perfect one. Eventually I stumbled on Azurite (this was after I made the Dream mechanic), which not only gives the user "psychic abilities" like the Dream mechanic, but also relates to Chakra, a core principle of Hinduism!

I think you're right about designing first and doing balance tests later.

Also, don't be ashamed about researching for hours, I do the same all the time to find fitting names for things I write (I use thesaurus.com like at least twice per day).

Also, you're definitely right about the mythic rares in many sets being OP.

However, Oko was banned (I don't know about Uro's status sadly, I don't play this game much. He's probably still in standard).

On top of that, there is a difference between those cards, and cards like Moxes and Lotuses (even reprints). The main concern by WOTC and magic players has always been that:

1. They go into every deck (colorless)
2. They warp formats (fast mana)

But, I've never heard of anyone complaining about the neo-moxes like Mox Tantalite, Chrome Mox or Mox Opal. I never noticed, but you're right about their single drawback abilities being a shared trait.

I also agree that it's more fun to design this as a simple card. But, I worry that Dream as a mechanic might be less drawback than the ones that appear on the other moxes (for example: Suspend 3 means you can't play it until turn 3, while this can be played on turn 2 pretty easily).

However, that's just stating the obvious, and you're definitely on the right track with this card, anyway. (my best advice is to keep a CLOSE eye on it :P)

I'll definitely watch this one during playtesting, but this is a draft-oriented set. I'm not trying to balance cards for other formats right now.

Also, thanks for the encouragement!