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Recent updates to Multiverse Design Challenge: (Generated at 2025-05-17 05:14:13)
I don't think the problem is that the ability is strong... it just isn't fun for your opponent. In theory, no good ability is, and making your opponent squirm is something a lot of players like to do. But intentionally filling a set full of cards that makes your opponent squirm isn't good for the health of the game. It's not as obviously bad for the game as a pure drawback (cards with this mechanic would still receive a fair number of stars on Gatherer, for example)... but too many cards like this would lead to players no longer wanting to play the game, and attendance at tournaments dropping. Kind of like what happened to Fairies in Lorwyn. There was nothing wrong with the fairies on an individual level....
True. Though one of the problems with blue creature keyword mechanics is it has lots of evasion abilities and not much else.
Good question. I'm actually less worried about size -- red can have one giant monster, and green can have a big one and a nearly-big one. And I think if wurms are a theme it would be fine to have some immature wurmlings with the same creature type, as long as they're reasonably chunky for their mana cost.
I was more worried about haste. I compromised by giving black a small-ish overcosted wurm with a cheap evoke cost, and green a big wurm with an expensive evoke cost.
True, although blue already gets things like Latch Seeker and Blighted Agent -- I find it hard to evaluate evasion mechanics, when sometimes blue just gets "can't be blocked"...
The keyword mechanic seems pretty strong. Guaranteed card advantage if the opponent wants to block it, and backbreaking if it gets enough equipment/etc to need to double-block or chump block it. Similarly painfully good with pump spells or "I survive combat after all" tricks.
Scaldmage Revisionist: Trespass for Rogues
Spear Crusader
For Challenge # 083.
This is a mechanic I did inspired by Squadron Hawk for my Cube. The first version put the creatures in your hand, which was hella broken, and it made picking more insanely better. It appeared in
and 
, but I had to cut it because it was taking too much space in colors that had other cards that cared about creatures.
If I remember correctly, I had a
1/1 with flying, a 
2/2, a 
2/3 with vigilance, a 
3/3 with trample, and a few Lords.
I rather like this concept. It would be hard to make a lot of commons out of it, since wurms don't do small. Maybe a single 3/5 green wurm would be fine. Four in common doesn't sound terrible, though (6 if black and white join in for a single card).
Another use of creature types would be to say that anything that's a chimera is also automatically a lion dragon goat :)
For Challenge # 083
Goblin Artisans brainstormed sandwurm mechanics. I particularly liked "sacrifice two lands, return ~ from your graveyard to hand", since it lets you play large creatures which are somewhat (but not totally) resistant to removal. I also liked some of the "swallow whole" mechanics, but none were just right.
This tries to capture the feel of a sandwurm erupting from the desert beneath you. The idea is that sandwurms will have different ETB abilities (probably "when this erupts" on commons and uncommons, and "when this ETB" or "when this attacks" on rares?) which capture their destructive nature, but aren't part of the mechanic.
A common sandwurm might have no ETB effect at all, so I picked something in the middle that has a standard red ability. Other sandwurms might have abilities that combo with erupt more, eg. "target creature can't block" or "fight target creature", but those would be stronger so need to be developed more.
I resisted the urge to make these "Creature - Sand Wurm", since "Sand" isn't used on other sand-dwelling creatures :)
I've spent too much time on this, but this challenge is fun. At first I couldn't think of anything, but I've come up with a couple of mechanics I really like. Sorry there are so many!
Adding Foundation Shaker, a sandwurm "burst up from underneath you" mechanic.
Single Ant -> Army Ant
For Challenge # 083
Magic has had unicorns since alpha, but very very few, and only one or two have any particular mechanical identity. I almost wonder if they should be lumped in with horses?
It is hard to get a unicorn-appropriate mechanic.
This is my effort, based on the "only capturable by an innocent" idea. I don't entirely like it, it has too many memory issues, but it's the best I could come up with.
It seems a little similar to werewolves, except there's no toggle to remind you when it has protection, which is a problem.
I'm not sure exactly how the rule should be written -- I think they should be able to attack every other turn without triggering protection, but I'm not sure if they fireball you during their first main phase, the unicorn should gain protection immediately or not?
ETA: Oh, and suggestions for a less generic name?
Graceful Unicorn, the first unicorn mechanic.
(((Orcish Mob))) - new tribal flavoured keyword is Horde
Certain cowardly creatures prefer to attack in large numbers (Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Merfolk, etc) hence this tribal variation on Battle Cry, Battalion, etc. Horde triggers on attack and, like battalion can have different triggered abilities for different creatures; +1/+0 UEoT was just the simplest one to show of the mechanic.
As it is, I think the cost is a little too low. I'd say "Swarm
" would be more appropriate... but Chatter of the Squirrel makes me think this activation should cost 
, or the base creature needs to cost 
. Maybe the small common should be a 0/1?
I do like this, and think it's a great idea. I also think it lends well to very powerful, yet simple rares. For example:
Viseroy Bumblebug
Creature - Insect
Rare
Swarm
All other insects get +1/+1.
2/2
Oh, also, may I suggest triggering at end of turn, instead of during the upkeep? A few more cards in Magic could really benefit from not forcing a decision before drawing a card. That would, however, cement that this creature's activation should sit in the 3 cost plus range...
@amuseum: I love exponential growth, but I think the CMC would have to be so high (so it's not broken when it works well) it would be offputting the rest of the time: Assemble the Legion is awesome, but can it work on a common 1-drop?
and whats the reason to avoid exponential growth? because one a turn doesn't feel swarmlike at all. assemble the legion makes a better swarm than this.
Thank you! It's growing on me.
I debated what colour flying insects are. White, because colony identity? Blue because flying? Black because creepy-crawly? Red because very small fliers, plus stings? Green because insect? I sort of like green, as green's "once every ten years fliers", Rosewater's opinion notwithstanding, but I don't think that can be correct.
It seems bees are green, wasps are green or black, mosquitos are black, moths are black or white... :)
But yes, it needs to be noticeably more expensive. Maybe a conditional-flying (eg. C: gains flying UEOT) would be a good balance.
Hee. Yes, very nice. This is actually really flavourful for a world in which some settlements are at risk of being completely overrun or devastated by an insect swarm.
Interestingly, the flying version would probably have to cost about
or 
because a horde of fliers is so much stronger than a horde of 1/1 ground creatures.
Created for Challenge # 083
Similar to populate, intended to capture the feel of a swarm of small creatures. I eschewed exponential growth by making it only work on the original creature. In general, I think it's prettier if you get a true copy, not a half-way copy, but I think this is easier to understand and to play with.
Obviously any repeatable-creature creation can be really strong, but the creature you get is weak and you can always do it only once a turn unless you play multiple swarm creatures. I'm not sure -- this is risky, is it too boring to play against an endless stream of 1/1s, or is it ok? You can tweak the activation cost to be more or less than the mana cost if necessary.
You can also have more expensive creatures with other abilities, or splashy rare swarm creatures that make scary things each turn, but 1/1 for
is the simplest interpretation.
ETA: It doesn't absolutely have to be restricted to "insect" but Swarmyard suggests it would be 90% insect (ant, bee, wasp, beetle, scorpion, locust, etc), 10% spider, and maybe very occasionally on a small mammal or non-natural species.