This is already twice as expensive as Pacifism or Journey to Nowhere and doesn't accomplish some of what those cards do. I suppose it's also quite comparable to Cage of Hands or Forced Worship, but again, it costs more to cast, and in two colors. I note that the cards Alex cited are both colorless, which means that they don't get to be quite as mana-efficient. This might need an activation cost but I would guess that it need not be more that or .
Deserter's Quarters has a star rating of 1.5, so it's far from an ideal reference point. Interestingly, Amber Prison has an average rating of 3.3. I'm not sure if this is because of nostalgia, or the versatility (it makes a poor LD spell... but it's at least an option.) I'm guessing a little of both. Amber looks like a cool ability until you go to activate it... then you realize that's hella-spensive. Something Quarters players learned first hand.
But, yeah, my first thought when I saw this was 'Awesome!' But I was responding to the raw power... White and Blue wished they could do this. Close, though.
If you want to get clever, maybe this can have a cost to untap it, instead of a cost to activate it? Also of note: Pretty good with a Voltaic Key.
Amber Prison used to be a lot more expensive. Deserter's Quarters was similarly expensive. There was a trick with that that let you use it to keep two blockers tapped down if you had 6 mana spare; the same trick works with this without needing any mana spare at all, so I wonder if that's a bit too good. It certainly would look fine if this had an activation cost of or something.
Nah, I'd say that's fine. "Look at opponent's hand" plus cantrip is fine for no mana 2 life, after all (Gitaxian Probe).
Could perhaps make it "that player reveals his or her hand", so that this isn't strictly better than Unsummon in the same way Vapor Snag wasn't - it's got a minor drawback if you use it on your own creatures.
2015-02-27 23:13:03:
Mal
created and commented on the card Upper Hand
Reprint! It's hard to find decent reprints that fit this set's flavor and needs. I'm also worried about buyback artifact destruction being too powerful in a set that has a lot of artifacts. I may have to change this card to be a bit less oppressive.
Similar to Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge.
A weird combo of Leonin Abunas and Karn/Sydri. Hexproof is very strong, but a 2/3 shouldn't be too hard to take down.
Not sure if 4WB is enough for this effect at uncommon. Reference points are Wind Shear, Angel of the Dire Hour, and Shipwreck Singer.
Lowered mana cost by 1. Alternate idea for change: Keep mana cost, toughness to 6 means dodging most removal.
Set activation cost to 1 since the multicolored cost means it should be much more efficient than Deserter's Quarters.
This is already twice as expensive as Pacifism or Journey to Nowhere and doesn't accomplish some of what those cards do. I suppose it's also quite comparable to Cage of Hands or Forced Worship, but again, it costs more to cast, and in two colors. I note that the cards Alex cited are both colorless, which means that they don't get to be quite as mana-efficient. This might need an activation cost but I would guess that it need not be more that
or 
.
Deserter's Quarters has a star rating of 1.5, so it's far from an ideal reference point. Interestingly, Amber Prison has an average rating of 3.3. I'm not sure if this is because of nostalgia, or the versatility (it makes a poor LD spell... but it's at least an option.) I'm guessing a little of both. Amber looks like a cool ability until you go to activate it... then you realize that's hella-spensive. Something Quarters players learned first hand.
But, yeah, my first thought when I saw this was 'Awesome!' But I was responding to the raw power... White and Blue wished they could do this. Close, though.
If you want to get clever, maybe this can have a cost to untap it, instead of a cost to activate it? Also of note: Pretty good with a Voltaic Key.
Amber Prison used to be a lot more expensive. Deserter's Quarters was similarly expensive. There was a trick with that that let you use it to keep two blockers tapped down if you had 6 mana spare; the same trick works with this without needing any mana spare at all, so I wonder if that's a bit too good. It certainly would look fine if this had an activation cost of
or something.
Nah, I'd say that's fine. "Look at opponent's hand" plus cantrip is fine for no mana 2 life, after all (Gitaxian Probe).
Could perhaps make it "that player reveals his or her hand", so that this isn't strictly better than Unsummon in the same way Vapor Snag wasn't - it's got a minor drawback if you use it on your own creatures.
Reminds me of Jetting Glasskite, which also suggests this could come down in cost rather.
Now a strictly better unsummon. Maybe too powerful?
Reprint! It's hard to find decent reprints that fit this set's flavor and needs. I'm also worried about buyback artifact destruction being too powerful in a set that has a lot of artifacts. I may have to change this card to be a bit less oppressive.