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Recent updates to Multiverse Design Challenge: (Generated at 2025-05-15 15:56:17)
For Challenge # 092. I was working backwards from the Duel Decks here. Thinking about interesting ideas for Duel Decks, I stumbled on the idea of doing Archenemy as a boxed set, with four duel decks. The idea is that people's biggest complaint with Archenemy is a power level issue. The schemes are too strong against some decks, and wimpy against others. Instead of packing 10 schemes with a forgettable deck of the correct power level that most people would ignore, what if you boxed the entire set together, and acted like the boxed set was a stand alone game?
To really cement the idea in people's heads, you'd want a classic match-up. And the most obvious choice, to me, would be Nicol Bolas versus the Planeswalkers, fighting over the fate of Alara. The 40 schemes in the set, therefore, would be tailored to Nicol Bolas' 100 card monster deck, and the players would each play a Planeswalker. Cool beans. I'd pay $50-$60 for that product.
Moving forward, then, the most obvious choice would be to time the Archenemy product with a return to Alara. My first idea was to say that the planes weren't coming together, but were moving past each other and forming wedges. What I really wanted to do was a Wedge Ultimatuum, but wedge doesn't really belong in the Nicol Bolas deck, and that's the deck I wanted to design a card for.
I thought for too long. Then it occurred to me that there was nothing wrong with the five mechanics from Alara. They were all solid, and returnable. What if Alara just focused on what happens when you smoosh those mechanics together. It's kind of weird, when you think about it... Wizards' design was so focused on world building, that they never showed us what happens when you combine Devour and Exalted, or a mechanic that Unearthed 5 power creatures. I'm not sure where you take Alara from there, but it seems like a good place to start, at least.
Heh, I saw 'non-lethal' and was reminded of Dungeons and Dragons, and the idea of damage that wears off quickly over time (in Magic-ese, I guess that would be regain one life per turn. Probably involving temporary damage counters.) That, itself, seems like a pretty cool idea.
I think the card originally just sent attacking creatures back to the owner's hand, instead of creatures that deal damage. That wasn't the intent, though, so I altered the card to enforce damage dealing as a prereq. I assume. The truth is, I don't even remember designing this card, or challenge 52 for that matter. Weird.
Aetherize? Wouldn't Restore the Peace be the better comparison?
Yes, hand :)
Oh, awesome. I love goats!
And then Wizards go and print Aetherize to suggest that actually this might be moderately fair even with the deliberate loophole. This is one mana cheaper than Aetherize, but crucially, requires you to get hit by the creatures first.
Onto the battlefield from where? Hand, presumably? Or from outside the game? :)
Created Springjack Alpha as a preview of a "Return to Lorwyn" set.
Huh, I did indeed miss Zendikar. How strange. I had it in my mental list.
I was including Otaria as part of Dominaria, but yeah, I deliberately didn't list the older options because I was confident I wouldn't remember them all.
Also, one can always combine. A particularly nasty combo could be New Phyrexia invading Rabiah (a good option for Wizards if they wanted to clean up a plane they don't care for, by letting the Phyrexians overrun it.) If you want to show off the Phyrexians at their most evil, let them overrun a story-book world. That'll wipe the smile off Bird Maiden's face.
I should point out that Alex missed Zendikar, which seems like an excellent place to return to, if ever there was one. Unless it was destroyed by Elderazi? Having not read the Zendikar cycle books, I must admit the end story of Zendikar is very in the air to me.
Also potential places to revisit (albeit, they are all rather old): Otaria, Ulgrotha, Shandalar and Rabiah (which I would love to revisit, personally. I'm pretty sure Wizards would like to pretend that plane doesn't exist, but you can do some really cool things with a plane that's divided into 1,001 shards.) If you're willing to go back in time, Sarpadia, Terissaire, The Thran Empire, original Phyrexia and Serra's Realm are all possibilities, too.
Heh, but you definitely can't cast Isamaru, Grandeur an Isamaru, then return the Grandeured Isamaru (I'm assuming you have a Fervor in play that's taking advantage of this boost.) It's funny how this rather simple card has some really odd complexities to it, eh?
"Just to confirm: you say this is to be a "return set". Is that meaning a set like Return to Ravnica or Scars of Mirrodin, returning to a previously-established plane?"
Yes, but the duel deck doesn't need to be in the most obvious form (nor, indeed, do you even need to explicitly name it!). Really that part was added as extra options beyond "design an uncarded legend or a new version of an old legend".
Decided to give it a shot with Isamaru the Masterless for a potential Kamigawa return.
True. Mirrodin (New Phyrexia) certainly could be returned to in future, and Ravnica almost certainly will be at some point. And Dominaria is a very large plane with lots of interesting places, and lots of named characters without their own cards (even despite Time Spiral's best efforts).
Revisiting a plane again seems fine to me, albeit I think ravnica and mirrodin are probably too recent for a revisit to convey a decent sense of "new". Dominaria seems one of the most obvious choices.
Except I don't really know anything about Dominaria or any of the planes before Kamigawa...
Just to confirm: you say this is to be a "return set". Is that meaning a set like Return to Ravnica or Scars of Mirrodin, returning to a previously-established plane? So this duel deck would be similar conceptually to Izzet Vs Golgari?
Odyssey block and Time Spiral block both count as a "return to Dominaria". So if we want to avoid returning to a place already returned to (which admittedly isn't a constraint in the stated challenge), then viable possibilities are:
I always liked Arc Mage. A Kris Mage spellshaping Lightning Bolt does seem a bit excessive. There's already Jaya Ballard, Task Mage who principally spellshapes Incinerate.
Some examples: Heroes Vs Monsters was released a few weeks before Theros, and included Anax and Cymede, Ordeal of Purphoros, Cavalry Pegasus, Polukranos, World Eater, Satyr Hedonist and Destructive Revelry as preview cards from Theros.
Izzet Vs Golgari was released a few weeks before Return to Ravnica, and included Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, Dreg Mangler, Korozda Guildmage, Street Spasm, Izzet Charm, and Goblin Electromancer as preview cards from Return to Ravnica.
I'll note that at least Anax and Cymede, Polukranos, and Jarad were not necessarily "straightforward and simple to understand"; perhaps Street Spasm and Dreg Mangler might not count as straightforward either.
I also note that there's a huge difference between on the one hand previews that demonstrate one of the upcoming set's new mechanics like Anax and Cymede, Polukranos, World Eater, Street Spasm and Dreg Mangler, and on the other extreme very simple utility previews like Cavalry Pegasus, Destructive Revelry and Goblin Electromancer.
This one is a thinker. It seems to be asking for 3 things:
I need to give this one a good think-see.
You know, I used to play Kris Mage, and that card seemed fair then, as well as now. That's not to say it can't be more powerful, but 3 damage is probably too much. I don't think there are any spellshapers that can routinely cast 4+ star instants, anyway... especially as soon as round 2.
But a more situational 3.88 star card like Smelt? Yeah, I can get behind that. I don't know if enough players would think it 'fun', but it should warp your regular EDH games. All the sudden, Sol Ring is looking a bit risky to run. (!)
Drareg, Master Sparkmage.