See Card74229 and Yaados Visionary. This could make for a good standalone card.

Italics necessary/preferable? Color(s)?

Colors makes sense. Don't think the italics is necessary. It isn't on other similar cards either.

That's the one you suggested Brainpolice right? Can be a key card, it concerns me though that the cycle bonus is in a non cycle combination instead of in .

The thing is "other similar cards" (for activated abilities) are rare or DO have the text in italics (e. g. Heartstone) or in most cases both.

I emphatically do not want to push Fluctuator for this set since it would easily warp the format.

Maybe this should be a rare to begin with. I also though about making it mono-red since - as mentioned - this card falls mechanically in both the blue-red as well as the black-red theme.

Only the flavourtext on Heartstone is in Italic, so what exactly do you mean?

For what it's worth, I already created a lesser Fluctuator as an artifact. See: Lesser Fluctuator.

@Gustostückerl: If you read the emphasized text on Fluctuator Mage you will note it is taken from Heartstone.

@Brainpolice: You suggest that card text a lot. Both times further above, too. :)

Well, the inspiration for the ability on both of the card ideas I've had was, in fact, Fluctuator, not Heartstone. Which does not have said limitation. One key difference is that the latter applies to activates abilities altogether, while the ability we are dealing with only applies to Cycling. There's also the fact that on the majority of cards we have with cycling, there is a colored mana in the cost. So it wouldn't be able to reduce it to less than 1.

The inspiration behind this card idea was actually Goblin Electromancer, a common (admittedly a powerful one). But I wanted to tag on the cycling part too to make it specific to the set. Felt like that made it an uncommon.

@SecretInfiltrator: That's why I'm confused. Brainpolice wrote the italics are not necessary cause other similar cards don't have it either, your example doesn't have it in italics too, so what do you mean? The text is the same, yes, it is not! in Italics on Heartstone however.

Yea, I agree that it doesn't need to be in italics. I go further though. I don't think the text needs to necessarily exist at all. I believe there are only a handful of cards we have in the whole set with a cycling cost that is purely colorless. Many of those aren't even instants or sorceries. So the limitation isn't even necessary really, except maybe to prevent like two cards from having a cycling cost of 0.

I don't want it to be in italics on the final card.

I'd vote for this for the slot.

I feel like this could just be in red. Blue doesnt really care about cycling as much in this set, while red cares about all the things this card does. Just make this a red uncommon?

I could see that possibility.

Published as mtgnexus Card of the Day 2019-12-20.