Xianlu: Comments

Talismans are now Seals.

This change is due to two reasons: My original name for the class of cards was Seal but I second-guessed it because Seal of X was already established mechanically (an enchantment that you could sacrifice). This is technically in line with that, so I'm more okay with it now. The naming scheme is different enough to hopefully differentiate them.

The other reason is because "Untalisman" is not an actual word. Unseal fits nicely with the flavor I'm going for, so Seal is now the subtype and the name of all of the previous Talisman/Fus.

Also, Talisman/Fus now draw a card upon unsealing them. To balance this slightly, the unseal cost is generally reduced by from their original unseal cost. I want unsealing talismans to be a legitimate strategic maneuver and consideration when casting them, and usually paying to unseal a 2-drop is pretty lackluster unless you've stalled out. Unseal costs are generally in the to range for now. Drawing a card has been added to help keep up with card flow. A lot of combat tricks in this set (should) be playable, and I want to encourage a back-and-forth flurry of spells/abilities during combat. Making unseal costs a bit more enticing should help with that back-and-forth gameplay.

This cardset is now about 80%-85% done as of now, with all of the mechanics at a place where they're unlikely to have major changes made to them in the final (first) draft. What do you all think about the cardset as a whole? Don't like a mechanic? Too complex? Too simple? Too boring? Don't understand the flavor? Worried about how fun limited might be? I'd love to hear your opinions on the set as a whole right now.

Cool! I am really enjoying the flavour, and several of the mechanics.

Just finished three sealed playtests with (almost) all available commons and uncommons.

Sequence was hard to pull off. May modify.

EDIT: Sequence now triggers off of any spell cast, rather than noncreature spell (much like Surge). This adds a lot of value to red and blue cards so it may end up that Red is the strongest color in the set.

Seals have been adjusted so that players may only "crack" them on their turn. There was one play where my Elusive Spellfist was enchanted with a Neutralizing Seal. Feeling confident that I could block the attacking 2/2, I declared it as a blocker, only to have it get cracked and have my Spellfist die. I want stuff like that. However, later on, casting a talisman only to have it immediately cracked by an opponent felt bad. So it has been adjusted so that players can only crack them on their turn.

­ might be a little too powerful. Most of their commons and uncommons are solidly playable and maindeckable. I might take away a little power in their suite or make some of their stuff a little harder to cast. No real big changes as of yet.

­ has a little too much flying, so I'll adjust that a little.

EDIT: One blue flyer at common (Wingdancer)has lost its wings. No more fliers at uncommon will be designed in Blue.

­ might be a little too weak. I never felt compelled to go into black. Buffing some of the commons slightly to add a bit of functionality.

EDIT: Hungering Claws has changed from deathtouch to lifelink. Ravenous Jiangshi is buffed. Morbid Remedies got a little more functionality. I want to add another deathtouch creature somewhere, but I'm not too sure where I'd put it.

­ was a little too strong, so some power has been taken away from some of their commons. Most notably, (((Seeker of Death))) is now a 2/1, Wild-Eye Matriarch is now instead of , and Monkey King's Call is now +4 / +1, instead of +4 / +2. Since sequence is buffed, I may need to figure out how to take more power away from red.

­ was fine, but a little boring. A couple of cards have been shuffled around in their spell suite (most notably, Bring Down is now Target Practice. I may change Mischief and Mayhem to give four +1/+1 counters to a creature at sorcery speed, but that's more of a thematic change as green is supposed to be building big creatures.

Using removal to kill bequeath creatures is a solid tactic. While I had a Shining Messenger with lifelink racing in the air, my opponent used Upper Hand on his Village Herbalist to give his Sentinel of the Pines lifelink, ultimately winning him the game.

Gongrats on the first draft - finishing it is no easy task.

Reflex is beyond forgettable - it's truly coreset worthy. Looking at the cards with it, they're just blah for me.

Bequeath: This probably depends on how it played out, but I never really bought it personally. Specifically, the punch-out implementation. What if it was something along the lines of

> When this dies, exile it target creature and granting it's blaa ability

You know, more along the lines of convoke / haunt. Then on the bottom of the card, where it would usually have all the copyright / illustrator text (which now would be truncated), it would have the granted ability upside down. So you could, when exiled, turn the card upside down and below the creature it grants the ability and you could see the ability peeking out below from the top. Am I making sense here?

Sequence seems like it isn't that feasible most of the time. Considering how hard it can be to pull of, I don't whether the rewards are worth it. Why aren't there any rituals in the set? Wouldn't they be perfect with this mechanic?

Unseal is okay, but I don't see it as something that would pull players to the set by overly exciting them.

I never cared for Monstrosity - nothing wrong with it I guess.

Yeah, most of my mechanics are a means to an end in that respect - to me, they're pretty boring (esp. Unseal and Reflex) but they service the overall gameplay behind the set. The only one I'm really pushing is Bequeath. Personally, I've never really cared for exiling cards as a reminder tool. I understand its uses, but to me it seems like it's reducing fun graveyard shenanigans for reminder tools that aren't necessary for a set that's mostly going to be played on Cockatrice.

I think you may have missed the change in Sequence - much like Surge, it triggers off of any spell cast, rather than noncreature spells. It makes it a bit more "core set worthy" IMO, but the number of low-drop cards should improve that a bit.

Personally, I would consider Level up over Bequeath. To bring something new to the table by returning a mechanic, have auras that grant level up and levels. Venerated Teacher and Time of Heroes reprints seem quite fitting. Also, possibly stuff like "Rather than pay ~'s mana cost, you may tap Level 5 creature/Rogue you control." Having level up may also remove the possibility of monstrosity, but I don't see that mechanic as crucial in any way.

Having both Sequence and Reflex seems a bit redundant to me. Speaking of Surge, it's actually quite cleverly designed in that the reward (lower cost) also makes it easier to achieve the condition. For Sequence, maybe it could just copy the spell if you've cast another spell this turn?

Some other custom projects:

"Giants of Nangjiao"

• Look at all that muh art
• http://magicseteditor.sourceforge.net/node/12336

Custom Return to Kamigawa block:

• http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/custom-card-creation/custom-set-creation-and/378894-ctg-call-to-glory

EDIT: Maybe some kind of pairing mechanic akin to Soulbond could be a thing.

Perhaps like https://www.reddit.com/r/custommagic/comments/7txc6i/threads_of_fate/ ? Like an extension of fight with a hint of soulbond or something...