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Recent updates to Multiverse Design Challenge: (Generated at 2025-08-26 15:29:56)
For Challenge # 142. Alpha didn't think there was anything wrong with Taiga and its ilk. The dual lands were balanced because they were rare, and because opponents could punish the player for using a land with both types.
That's some absurdist thinking nowadays. But in '93, it made sense. So let's extend that thought. We can give basic lands extra abilities if we just tack on a potentially negative new type to it. Since this card doesn't make much sense by itself, I added Toxify as well.
Evolving to remove cards from the match is totally something I could see Magic having pulled in a later set. Heck, I could even see it popping up in an un-set now. Also, shame on any player that play without a sideboard.
That wasn't a dex-based card I was expecting.
Forgot to add Disemination. Also, just added Highlands Mauler.
For Challenge # 142. Alpha thought that dexterity based cards were okay, so I added a dexterity based card. Granted, this is very easy to go off... I have roughly the same card with different flavor in my personal Type IV box, and I've never missed with it. You might miss occasionally, though, if you play 4 and your opponent know they are coming. I expect a lot of card tables to upend in an attempt to avoid the inevitable.
This is awesome. I almost don't want them to have an activated ability. Just a 1/1 Bear for
with some flavor text that sums up what you just said...
Dominarian Bears
See Challenge # 131.
So the happy hunting grounds are full of big scary creatures.
But basic game balance needs us to have some small stuff too. What kind of a one-drop does mungo-mungo get?
We could go the route of that horror set - a bleeagured minority.
Or we could make it clear that, yes, things in Mungo are just BIGGER.
Grizzly bears got imported (because of course they did). And compared to everything else here? They are TINY.
Note that I have absolutely no problem with using this as a way to get cards into play if you manage to discard 4 cards directly on top of it - 6+ cards in hand, one of them this, one of them One with Nothing? Live the dream!
Ah; I need to rephrase. The intent is that you have to dump 4+ cards on top of it in a single action for it to trigger. And yes; it's not rare; my assumption is the ability got more common over time; as a needed answer to board sweepers.
I'd imagine this being at-least rare since Nether Shadow is. This is a really powerful reanimation tool you never need to cast. I could probably play this in a mono-blue deck that just mills itself to bring out Lord of the Pit and a sacrifice via this card.
See Challenge # 142.
So, one other thing Alpha was big on was ground stalls.
Creatures were underwhelming, blocking (with banding etc.) was complicated; and so people either turned to the dark side (blue) and avoided it completely - or went white-weenie and used a board sweeper if the game progressed out of weenie.
But... there were also big hugeass stompy things. the iconic being Lord of the Pit. At really very high cost.. so maybe what alpha was really trying to do; was battle-ship magic. a.k.a. Zendikar.
I assume therefore that there would have been more support cards (like, say, Mox Emerald - the original mana rocks; hmm?) to give such decks a chance to get out of the weenie-game.
So what's needed is a way to cope with board sweepers and get out of the blue zone. And whaddya know, Alpha had that too - Nether Shadow.
So here we go - also graveyard order matters!
You say "Drawback" Alpha says "Opportunity" :)
on advice of counsel; up it to giant spider stats (was 0/3 to match the blue wall) because that also hits Alphas "There are cards with x stats at y cost; and RARE cards with same stats and cost, but special abilities"
Thinking about Swords to Plowshares and how radical that card must have felt to remove a creature from the game, I figured I'd go one higher and remove the creature from the match.
In theory, you could just concede in response to this spell. It should be reminder text. But alpha didn't do reminder text, so neither does this card.
Oh, heh. Sometimes Vitenka, I read into what I think you intend as opposed to what you actually wrote. I just assumed the choice was "I now own this card and it may pass, or it is removed from combat."
Oh, good point. Yes, if creatures are SUPPOSED to be underpowered, this is more plausible :)
But even in alpha, this has less P/T than Giant Spider at common, Dragon Whelp, Phantom Monster and Wall of Swords at uncommon, and Roc of Kher Ridges at rare, PLUS it's defender, PLUS its rare, PLUS it has a drawback.
True; but this is how Alpha advanced. Historically; creatures are overcosted :)
But yeah, you're right, the cost of this is high.
Yeah, I was also going to add, this is mostly less good than a 0/3 flying defender, and 3G is expensive for that (unless you have a lot of faith in your ability to bluff your opponent into making the wrong choice). This should probably be overpowered for its cost if it has a "opponent may choose to bypass it" some of the time.
Well not quite - both the dragon and the giant can bull into it and destroy it. But if you're on low life... well, they can bypass it and probably win the game; and they're much happier to do that with a giant than a shivan.
I know White Ward had errata. But, interestingly, they never spelled out that it didn't destroy itself until the Fifth edition of the card. :p
Reminder text, however, is just a reminder. I could see them pulling the 'doesn't destroy itself' from blue hack printed on rares for space reasons. But it's needed at the common level.
Nice! A card that's powerful against Shivan Dragon, but vulnerable to Hill Giant.
Heeee.
I think they'd just solve it in comp rules. After all, original Protection from White didn't cause itself to fall off, that's just silly.
I like this challenge. Murmuration of Magpies, and Sacrificial Imp