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Recent updates to Multiverse Design Challenge: (Generated at 2025-05-13 18:38:30)
Ah. Perhaps I should swap the order of abilities on this cycle. I'm pretty sure that would be the "proper" order, anyway.
Conquered Treeline, a triggered fetchland ability.
Interesting. Goes a rather different, but very workable, direction with Terrains.
Hmm. Not bad. Free reach against the opponent's least important flier. That's pretty good, because a lot of the time when there's a ground stall, one player can be pecking in the air with a couple of smallish fliers. This means whenever they do that they still lose one of them.
I mean, it's not broken or anything, because a single Spidersilk Net would do the same rather better. But it's still a nice effect to get on a land. Of course, you're paying mana-but-not-a-card for it (where Spidersilk Net charges you a card but not mana). Pretty strong, but probably not problematically so, since it's a fairly conditional situation where it'll be relevant.
Yes, I kept thinking of reliquary tower, but I couldn't think of for more :) I considered "opponents can't look at your hand" but that had rules problems and was very narrow. And then I got stuck. The "minor tribal benefit" was a good idea.
Thanks, Jack. I hadn't made it back to my computer to link to those here. You missed Woven Canopy.
The best example I can think of for a static ability on a land is Reliquary Tower.
Narrow Clearings, one element in an as-yet-unmade "terrain" cycle, but with no new rules baggage, seeing if I can make terrains as subtypes of lands after all, with static abilities.
Link created cards Crystalline Ashlars, Lore-Riddled Cliffs, Nightmare Realm, Volcanic Roost, Volcanic Roost with a static ability affecting a different creature types.
Ah! I had to switch the format over from 'Mockup' to 'Plain' to prove that the second and the third ability wasn't tied to each other. Otherwise, the timing on a few of these seem kind of suspect.
I don't like the etb tapped with these guys. Mostly, because I can imagine someone holding this for far too long, then deciding they don't need it after all, only to not be able to use the mana until next turn... so maybe they don't play it after all. But next turn, they still don't need it...
It seems to me that the 'one land per turn' limit already restriction enough with these cards (in other words, the more you hold in your hand, the more it stunts your growth.) I don't really think you need the one turn pause as well. Otherwise, I like the cards. I do like the choice to edge closer to the spellbombs than the alara capsules.
Thank you. Ooh, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if early effects or late effects are better: most of these are weak enough they might not have much effect in the late game and be more likely to be useful as fixing a land-flood in an opening hand. But you're right, there's a tension between playing this for mana, or using the ability for mana.
Thank you!
Are they meant to both ETBT and tap for colourless?
Oops, maybe not, unless they need to be powered down more. Although it might be better if it gives reason for people to get them only when they really want them, and not just through them in as an extra. But "ETB tapped;
" is really unusual, it should normally be one or the other, but I'm not sure which is better without playtesting.
Thank you!
Hee. Fun indeed. Nicely Johnny.
Yeah, I like this. The effects are indeed weak enough to make them not normally worth saving unless you don't need the land.
Are they meant to both ETBT and tap for colourless?
Oh, interesting: wash one mana. Unlike the rest of this cycle this is an effect you really want early; I can see players manascrewing themselves by discarding this on turn 2 to get out their Putrid Leech or whatever.
Living River One entry in a cycle of man-lands with always-on static abilities. I haven't finished the cycle.
I don't think this is quite right, but I was thinking of how to put static abilities on lands, and couldn't think of many that were appropriate for lands, so started thinking how to put creature abilities on lands. There are few that work (eg. exalted, graft, hexproof), but usually it just seems odd.
So I tried to dodge the issue by giving them a strong damage ability, but an expensive animation cost, so if you find a different way to animate them or turn them into a pinger, you feel like you won something. I deliberately made it "damage" not "combat damage" since that makes more sense on a land, and you need to jump through a couple of hoops to activate it whatever you do.
Thank you! Oh yes, I'd forgotten about denying channel. This is very similar space. I think the problem there is that the effect is strong enough competitive players would actively want it in their deck, whereas either "land" or "gain three life" they don't normally want except that they have to. But even so, you could increase the cost a bit more, it would be a shame if "gain three life" had to cost 1W, but it would probably be fine, whereas "counter target spell" might have to cost 6 or 8 to be balanced...
Personally, I like these. I approve of lands that offer you extra versatility. They do remind me of Tiago Chan's Denying Channel, though, which was a land with a similar (albeit more powerful) effect.
When I first started playing magic I was very confused by permanents with discard effects -- I hadn't yet internalised that "discard" meant "from hand" not "from play". Now that's second nature to me, even though other games use "discard" for any method of getting rid of stuff.
There have been surprisingly few lands with spell-like effects. I guess because it really makes them into spells with landcycling rather than lands. So I tried to find a cycle of five effects which are small, and mostly utility non-combat, so it's more like a bonus on the land than the primary point of the card, and less likely anyone will want to counter them and be disappointed they can't.
In fact, I'm also disappointed "manacost, discard from hand" counts as an ability not a spell, I wish it could be templated so it was clearly casting, which is what it feels like. Then it would be easier to remember, anything that's cast by a card leaving your hand is a spell, and anything with no card isn't (except copies of cards).
So I looked around for five small effects I liked but were too small even for 1 mana. They have often shown up as a cantrip, or a phyrexian-one-mana-card. I hoped to find ones that were weak rather than narrow, so they wouldn't feel completely wasted if you didn't have a specific use for them, but you would usually only want them if you had a specific use in mind.
I wasn't sure about making these activated on "discard from hand" not "ETB" or "sacrifice". My logic was that discard from hand gives a choice, but the effect is small enough most people will instinctively do the right thing of using the effect only if they don't want the land. I'm worried about ETB lands being held until people think they can "use" them which is usually wrong, and lands with a sacrifice effect needing to be costed very expensively because you can get the benefit of the land AND the spell.