Multiverse Design Challenge: Recent Activity
Multiverse Design Challenge: Cardlist | Visual spoiler | Export | Booster | Comments | Search | Recent activity |
All challenges | Upcoming Challenges | Make a new design challenge! | All challenges (text) |
Recent updates to Multiverse Design Challenge: (Generated at 2024-05-18 17:10:07)
Blue uncommon 2-cmc instant ramp: See Challenge # 167.
Blue ramp. My first thought was untapping, but it has to be a one-off. So, untapping, but can be carried forward to your next turn.
I've no idea how strong the effect is, is untapping lands strong or weak or unprintable? I almost wanted a one off "untap N lands" effect, but that led more into a one-off burst of spells like a combo deck, with more chance of being useless or broken, whereas I wanted something incrementally building up like a ramp deck.
I've seen a few variants like prepare, but I went with the simplest possible here, which just lets you invest your mana in a situational spell in advance. It could also give you a greater or lesser version of the effect, maybe if it was restricted to not being cast until your next turn like Alex's version.
Huh. Yes, that probably does the trick. You can usually fetch one, and if you're behind you might be able to fetch more.
That does feel a bit ineffective though -- if you're usually getting a single plains, wouldn't you just play another plains in your deck instead? I really want it to put them onto the battlefield, but I agree, white doesn't usually do that unless it's catching up. But if you're getting lands to hand there's a limit to the amount of upside so it could potentially be more generous -- maybe attacking creatures?
I need to design a BLUE 2-cmc instant ramp spell, which I'm pondering...
See Challenge # 167.
1-4-5-2-4. White rare instant, CMC 2, ramp.
Well, at least it's not common. White does get occasional ramp at rare, things like Cartographer's Hawk, Endless Horizons, Gift of Estates, Knight of the White Orchid, Keeper of the Accord, Kor Cartographer, and of course Tithe and Land Tax. On a 2 CMC instant is harder. And the thing about most of those is that it's not really "ramp" if it requires an opponent to have more lands than you. "Ramp as long as someone else is ramping more".
I was trying to think of some other white way to ramp, and I thought of "Fetch a Plains for each spell an opponent has cast this turn." I was somewhat tempted to write it with Storm... but that's just asking for trouble really. And this way is less shuffling.
Challenge # 167
An aggro 3-cost red common instant. Well, that's almost too straightforward. So I figured I'd work on a new drawback. This mechanic lets your opponent cast your spells, just like if they controlled the flashback. But the flashback is costly, and the base spell is strong.
Unfortunately, I get the impression a lot of Timmys would hate this mechanic. I'd recommend keeping keeping the mechanic isolated mostly to cards where your opponent usually can't benefit correctly. "Destroy target enchantment" for example, isn't going to do much for your opponents if you don't run enchantments. In fact, it would probably be a benefit, since now you get to watch your opponents destroy each other's enchantments.
Multicolor Rare 5-cost Planeswalker based on ramp for Challenge # 167. Rolled two dice for multicolor, and one came back multicolor, so I took that to mean roll twice more.
At least a five cost Sultai planeswalker is more likely ramp than the red artifact I just did. Now to come up with a concept. Poking around, the idea of having the first line say "Skip your draw step" sounded like a great way to add a dash of black to a traditional green ramp card. You can ramp like a champion, but you won't draw into another clutch spell while you control this planeswalker.
That makes this a black/green card. But we need some blue as well. Draw two, discard three feeds into this slow loss of control. The card draw is nice, but unless you're drawing cards that draw you cards, you will slowly go through all the cards in your hand until there is nothing left.
To top this all off, we have an expensive ultimate. This is intended to get this planeswalker off the field, so you can start playing normally again. If you were ramping this whole time, it should be easy to drop 15 mana worth of threats all at once. But you may have needed to use the +3 a few times to dump cards into your graveyard, so there's a little stress there.
You'll have to excuse me if I don't name my cards immediately. It's likely one or two of them might end up as a Name That Card card. I'll make sure to give proper names to these cards when that moment has passed.
(((NameReserved1)))
(((NameReserved2)))
(((NameReserved3)))
You'll have to excuse the name for this card. It's a good chance that one card from Challenge # 167 will end up in Name That Card. Those that don't, I'll go back and name later.
Anyhow, Mythic 3-cost Red Artifact based around ramp. Ramp is... you know, it would have been easy to pretend that ramp and ritual is the same thing, but it isn't. I wanted something that could clearly be a red ramp spell. And while that's not unheard of in red, it's tough to do a cost-efficient mythic with red ramp.
So I dipped a little into ritual space. But the second ability could just be a clean ramp. If the first ability dumps enough lands into your graveyard (or you already had five lands in your graveyard) it's just five mana for five Raise Deadlands. Admittedly, it's kind of nice how this being an artifact let me stretch into that second ability.
Nice. One of those cards like Turn the Tables that never gets played because it's situational and costs a lot. But the one day someone does play it, the entire table jumps out of their seats.
Uncommon two-cost blue midrange enchantment: Glinting Reflection
Uncommon two-cost blue midrange enchantment. See Challenge # 167.
OK, that's all fairly plausible, but blue enchantment isn't the most mid-range-y. I wanted something more enchantment-y but I always liked animated enchantments. I tried to make this flexible but limited to its role enough the cost made sense. I'm not sure I succeeded.
I was originally going to have it key off playing 3+ cmc cards somehow, embracing "midrange", but that didn't work with the half of the game plan where you need to stop the opponent rushing you early.
This in particular is similar to Ghostly Prison, except that you don't have to pay per creature and the effect is quite different in multiplayer. I felt that it was okay at as a result, and that upping the tax by might be justified as well.
Oh yeah, undeniable white control enchantment!
I'm never sure how much something like this should cost. On the one hand, against a deck that wants to attack, it can set them back multiple turns. On the other hand, it basically means you skip a turn not doing anything. So I don't really know!
Gosh. Yes, that's a tall order but that seems to be a good answer :)
See Challenge # 167: 6(2-4)-3-6-2-1
A blue-red mythic enchantment, CMC 2, that fits into an aggro deck? Oh boy.
See Challenge # 167. 1-3-2-2-2.
I created Font of Misery yesterday, but I have forgotten the dice rolls that resulted in it.
Today I made Fog of Apathy and Ancient Storm.
Nifty. Reduces the chance of drawing lands as the game goes on. It's a pity it's a search, though, as big shuffles are bad. Maybe something like "look at the top five, you may put a land from among them into the graveyard, then put the rest on the bottom in a random order"?
Anyway, it definitely ticks the boxes: this is a fascinating combo piece that really wants to go along with something :) It'd certainly be popular with The Gitrog Monster.
Rare green 5-cost ramp instant: Manifest Terrain
See Challenge # 167. Rare green 5-cost ramp instant.
Well, green rares are good with ramp. But it needs to be a fairly big ramp. I reckoned something that would save you a turn and ramp you would be nice.
Although I'm not quite sure this the final place. The wording is a bit clunky, and it's purely reactive, it doesn't ramp UNLESS you're attacked. But OTOH, do you need to ramp unless you're attacked?
Hm. 3-drop white rare planeswalker, supporting midrange. Well, a lot of three drop rare planeswalker is probably midange-y. Although white leans aggro or control more. Planeswalkers are hard, not sure how to choose something that stands out.
See Challenge # 167.
Uncommon green 2-cost combo creature: Dangerlands Ranger
See Challenge # 167. Making an uncommon green 2-cost combo creature.
OK, small green combo creature. Small green creatures aren't often the effective combo pieces, but they could be. What does combo like? Repeatable effects. Free resources. Useless effects that are broken in just the right circumstance.
OK, a straightforward land search? For a land that you want in the graveyard. It might be more combo-y if it was a one-off effect but I liked the idea that it might start early but take multiple turns to use.
The problem is repeated search is a waste of time if you don't need the effect right now. Maybe it should have a mana cost so you only use it if you need it?
Thank you! Oh yes, I completely missed Bloodtallow Candle, but that suggests this is about right. It doesn't feel like anyone is going to be especially excited to have it, but I think that might be inevitable for 6 cost colourless common removal :)