Even if that's true, if we ever want to play with these cards I don't want an effect that takes 5 minutes to resolve. Particularly not on an activated ability.
2015-03-26 15:08:28:
Link
commented on the cardset Worm
I began reading it. I was inspired to create Skitter based purely on the character's power set.
Yup; but ordering your whole deck really is something Contessa enables. It's that stonkingly drasstic a power.
2015-03-25 10:46:17:
Alex
commented on the cardset Worm
What can we say about Worm? It's...
A web fiction series. A story you read on the web (or download the huge fan-compiled ebook).
Long. Really long. About two million words.
Dark. Very dark. It starts off merely somewhat gritty in a grey-versus-grey world, and then things get rather worse.
A story of superheroes and supervillains. Lots and lots of them (hence cmeister's thought that there are easily enough characters to fill the number of creature cards required for an entire Magic set). Every one has a well-defined power set. Many of the superpowers are extremely innovative, which makes for interesting challenges reflecting them on Magic cards.
A world where the "heroes" and "villains" alike are flawed, human characters, with ideals, hopes, moral principles, quirks.
Libraries are shuffled because there's no good way to prevent a player from reorganizing that library, whether accidentally or intentionally. Search effects aren't meant to allow you to reorganize your library, and therefore they don't do so.
Alternate wording to split up the two use cases a bit more clearly:
: Untap all other creatures you control. They gain hexproof until end of turn.
during combat: Untap all creatures you control and remove them from combat. After this step, there's an additional declare attackers and declare blockers step.
I think I prefer the current text though because it's not like Coil's ability actually has two different modes in-story.
Sadly this is way too cheap. You get free ": " for 3 mana (Minister of Impediments), or 4 if you want to untap also (Fatestitcher). You can get to untap also at 3 mana if you pay 1 to activate (Puppeteer). Down at 2 mana you need to pay 2 mana to activate if you're untapping (Stonybrook Angler), or just 1 if you're only tapping (not been done in blue, but Master Decoy etc in white).
So since we don't want this to untap things, it could be for a 1/1 with activation cost; or for a 1/1 with no activation cost. Or possibly for a 1/1 with activation cost.
How about "When an effect says you must shuffle your library, you may instead choose not to."?
2014-12-17 17:31:19:
Alex
created and commented on the card Wanton
Wanton can "turn into a localized telekinetic whirlwind."
Bah, was trying to create a common here. But an on-board trick to affect combat is a classic NWO red flag. Bother.
2014-12-17 17:12:23:
Alex
created and commented on the card Coil
I've been wondering for a while how we'll represent Coil's ability to "try out" a timeline. Coil himself is pretty black (he basically set out to obtain power, and while he tries to keep things respectable, he's willing to get his hands very dirty where he considers it necessary).
I started by considering a kind of Gustcloak Savior effect. I refined that to:
> Exile all other creatures you control, then return them to the battlefield. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This mass-blink version allows you to also dodge removal spells.
This really needs to give you another combat step; problem is that's normally a red mechanic, and Coil really isn't red at all. But occasionally white and blue dabble in it: Finest Hour, Illusionist's Gambit, Waves of Aggression. Similarly haste is primary red, but it occasionally gets to go in black or green.
Big problems with this ability as phrased above: you can use it in the end of combat step to gain extra damage. Also, you can use it in first main to give all your creatures haste... bleh.
Okay, trying a different take on it. I think this accomplishes what I want (allowing you to try out a combat and retry it, once, if it doesn't go the way you want; or alternatively allowing you to dodge a removal spell) without so many undesired corner cases. Note that there's no extra combat damage step: you either use this before combat damage is dealt, or you get a pointless extra set of declaring attackers or blockers. ("Pointless", that is, unless you can find a way to take advantage of it, such as Laserdream.)
I think this also works moderately sensibly with first strike. If you use this after first strike damage but before regular damage, fine - that works well and is clever; your first strikers had better stay out of combat this time because they won't get to deal damage in the regular damage step (and there isn't a second "first strike damage step" because that's already happened).
It's still pretty odd rules text. But, well, Coil's ability is pretty odd.
2014-12-17 16:45:06:
Alex
created and commented on the card Chariot
He wears power armor with a jetpack and built-in roller skates; he Tinkers up unconventional vehicles and modes of transportation, particularly fast ones.
But that's a black effect, not a blue one. That's what I was getting at with my first two sentences. (Um, and you can't use the word "search" if you're avoiding shuffles. Also that's a recipe for the game stalling for 5 minutes, which is worth avoiding.)
Because that makes them too much like Eldrazi, taking away from their distinctiveness a bit. Annihilator is more about destroying lands, usually, which is especially Leviathan's role. Behemoth does more killing of people.
"Missed out" Khonsu - I also didn't mention Tohu and Bohu, because I wasn't talking about them yet. But the fact there are five (counting the two of them as one Endbringer) does strongly suggest putting one in each colour.
Mmm, scry without being called scry to sound a bit less futury...
Actually - I suggest going full out Demonic Tutor++.
: Search your library for a card, and put it into your hand.
Deliberately without the shuffle. Or the tap. But yes, with a high cost because even I'm not that crazy.
2014-12-17 15:05:58:
Alex
created and commented on the card Contessa
Contessa's power "supplies her with whatever steps she needs to take at the task she is visualizing". Sounds like an unlimited Diabolic Tutor effect. But personality-wise, as far as we can ever tell, she's utterly detached, which is blue. Okay, we can do Information Dealer / Soothsaying instead. This feels a bit like predicting the future, which isn't quite Contessa's power: it'd be good to make sure that this ability doesn't end up too close to Dinah's and Coil's.
2014-12-17 14:56:23:
Alex
created and commented on the card Purity
She can fire blasts of light that can level buildings, and can "create kinetically charged light" to fly at high speed through the air.
I worry that this might play a bit similarly to Gawain IFX-V301, which dominates combat but in an oppressive way rather than a good way.
2014-12-17 13:21:33:
Alex
created and commented on the card Citrine
Citrine's power is weird. She attunes specific areas to adjust the laws of physics in them - "increasing gravity, decreasing friction, changing the progression of time". How do you reflect that? I wanted to have her put +0/+1 counters etc on lands, with the land gaining "Whenever a creature attacks you, it gets all bonuses from counters on this land", but I rather doubt that template works. This is a different approach to the same idea.
At first I had all the effects costing , but then I realised how stupidly powerful the -0/-1 one was, so I rearranged them for a smooth scale.
Which wording is better?
> : Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets +0/+1 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets +1/+0 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets -1/+0 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets -0/-1 UEOT.
or
> : Each attacking creature gets +0/+1 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets +1/+0 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets -1/+0 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets -0/-1 UEOT.
The first is rather weaker - it needs to be done before combat starts, and the opponent can choose not to attack if the conditions are unfavourable. The second is a lot more powerful. (For just pumping your attackers though note that it's not as efficient as Leonin Sun Standard.)
2014-12-17 13:08:27:
Alex
created and commented on the card Behemoth
Wasn't sure whether to make Behemoth green, red or black. Red because its powers are quite electrical (and very burny). Black because more than any other Endbringer it's all about killing capes. Went for green in the end because green gets deathtouch + trample, which for once I think is justified here, and because Behemoth is "land" where Leviathan is "sea" and The Simurgh is "sky".
2014-12-17 12:17:08:
Alex
created and commented on the card The Simurgh
As discussed on Leviathan. Not sure if the regeneration ability is sensible here or not.
This is my attempt at capturing the Simurgh's "walking bomb" effect she has on those who are around her. Should it say "you don't control"?
Could alternatively focus on her precognition or ability to copy Tinker abilities around her. But those are both blue effects, and Leviathan really wants to be blue (as for that matter does Khonsu) and I don't think we want all the Endbringers to be blue...
2014-12-17 12:14:56:
Alex
created and commented on the card Leviathan
Endbringers seem sensible candidates for huge mythic beatsticks. Not sure whether they should all have Annihilator like the colourless Eldrazi, or just Leviathan (Leviathan is the city-killer, Behemoth the cape-killer).
The regenerate ability I'm thinking should go on at least Behemoth as well; not sure about The Simurgh and the others. It looks weird, but it's the same wording as on Mossbridge Troll.
Suggest "Illusion" instead of "Human" for the token. Since we're going the spoilers route anyway :P
Since he can recreate the Siberian in a different place if he wants to, might this even want to be ": Sacrifice all creatures you control named The Siberian, then put a 5/5 etc OTB"? (Along with the LTB trigger, obviously.)
Even if that's true, if we ever want to play with these cards I don't want an effect that takes 5 minutes to resolve. Particularly not on an activated ability.
I began reading it. I was inspired to create Skitter based purely on the character's power set.
Yup; but ordering your whole deck really is something Contessa enables. It's that stonkingly drasstic a power.
What can we say about Worm? It's...
The first chapter is here.
This cardset is being created from the perspective of after the story ends, and so contains quite a lot of spoilers.
Should I have heard of whatever this is about before?
Libraries are shuffled because there's no good way to prevent a player from reorganizing that library, whether accidentally or intentionally. Search effects aren't meant to allow you to reorganize your library, and therefore they don't do so.
fix costs
Alternate wording to split up the two use cases a bit more clearly:
: Untap all other creatures you control. They gain hexproof until end of turn.
during combat: Untap all creatures you control and remove them from combat. After this step, there's an additional declare attackers and declare blockers step.
I think I prefer the current text though because it's not like Coil's ability actually has two different modes in-story.
Relevant to discussions of red characters with morals.
Sadly this is way too cheap. You get free "
: 
" for 3 mana (Minister of Impediments), or 4 if you want to untap also (Fatestitcher). You can get to untap also at 3 mana if you pay 1 to activate (Puppeteer). Down at 2 mana you need to pay 2 mana to activate if you're untapping (Stonybrook Angler), or just 1 if you're only tapping (not been done in blue, but Master Decoy etc in white).
So since we don't want this to untap things, it could be
for a 1/1 with 
activation cost; or 
for a 1/1 with no activation cost. Or possibly 
for a 1/1 with 
activation cost.
True.
How about "When an effect says you must shuffle your library, you may instead choose not to."?
Wanton can "turn into a localized telekinetic whirlwind."
Bah, was trying to create a common here. But an on-board trick to affect combat is a classic NWO red flag. Bother.
I've been wondering for a while how we'll represent Coil's ability to "try out" a timeline. Coil himself is pretty black (he basically set out to obtain power, and while he tries to keep things respectable, he's willing to get his hands very dirty where he considers it necessary).
I started by considering a kind of Gustcloak Savior effect. I refined that to:
> Exile all other creatures you control, then return them to the battlefield. They gain haste. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This mass-blink version allows you to also dodge removal spells.
This really needs to give you another combat step; problem is that's normally a red mechanic, and Coil really isn't red at all. But occasionally white and blue dabble in it: Finest Hour, Illusionist's Gambit, Waves of Aggression. Similarly haste is primary red, but it occasionally gets to go in black or green.
Big problems with this ability as phrased above: you can use it in the end of combat step to gain extra damage. Also, you can use it in first main to give all your creatures haste... bleh.
Okay, trying a different take on it. I think this accomplishes what I want (allowing you to try out a combat and retry it, once, if it doesn't go the way you want; or alternatively allowing you to dodge a removal spell) without so many undesired corner cases. Note that there's no extra combat damage step: you either use this before combat damage is dealt, or you get a pointless extra set of declaring attackers or blockers. ("Pointless", that is, unless you can find a way to take advantage of it, such as Laserdream.)
I think this also works moderately sensibly with first strike. If you use this after first strike damage but before regular damage, fine - that works well and is clever; your first strikers had better stay out of combat this time because they won't get to deal damage in the regular damage step (and there isn't a second "first strike damage step" because that's already happened).
It's still pretty odd rules text. But, well, Coil's ability is pretty odd.
He wears power armor with a jetpack and built-in roller skates; he Tinkers up unconventional vehicles and modes of transportation, particularly fast ones.
But that's a black effect, not a blue one. That's what I was getting at with my first two sentences. (Um, and you can't use the word "search" if you're avoiding shuffles. Also that's a recipe for the game stalling for 5 minutes, which is worth avoiding.)
Because that makes them too much like Eldrazi, taking away from their distinctiveness a bit. Annihilator is more about destroying lands, usually, which is especially Leviathan's role. Behemoth does more killing of people.
"Missed out" Khonsu - I also didn't mention Tohu and Bohu, because I wasn't talking about them yet. But the fact there are five (counting the two of them as one Endbringer) does strongly suggest putting one in each colour.
It would be.. nice to make the endbringers one in each colour.
And you missed out the teleporting city-making tower one.
I would also just flat out go with Annihilator. They're the same role as the Eldrazi; why not make use of the tech?
Mmm, scry without being called scry to sound a bit less futury...
Actually - I suggest going full out Demonic Tutor++.
: Search your library for a card, and put it into your hand.
Deliberately without the shuffle. Or the tap. But yes, with a high cost because even I'm not that crazy.
Contessa's power "supplies her with whatever steps she needs to take at the task she is visualizing". Sounds like an unlimited Diabolic Tutor effect. But personality-wise, as far as we can ever tell, she's utterly detached, which is blue. Okay, we can do Information Dealer / Soothsaying instead. This feels a bit like predicting the future, which isn't quite Contessa's power: it'd be good to make sure that this ability doesn't end up too close to Dinah's and Coil's.
She can fire blasts of light that can level buildings, and can "create kinetically charged light" to fly at high speed through the air.
I worry that this might play a bit similarly to Gawain IFX-V301, which dominates combat but in an oppressive way rather than a good way.
has to be rare
Citrine's power is weird. She attunes specific areas to adjust the laws of physics in them - "increasing gravity, decreasing friction, changing the progression of time". How do you reflect that? I wanted to have her put +0/+1 counters etc on lands, with the land gaining "Whenever a creature attacks you, it gets all bonuses from counters on this land", but I rather doubt that template works. This is a different approach to the same idea.
At first I had all the effects costing
, but then I realised how stupidly powerful the -0/-1 one was, so I rearranged them for a smooth scale.
Which wording is better?
>
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets +0/+1 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets +1/+0 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets -1/+0 UEOT.
: Whenever a creature attacks this turn, it gets -0/-1 UEOT.
or
>
: Each attacking creature gets +0/+1 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets +1/+0 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets -1/+0 UEOT.
: Each attacking creature gets -0/-1 UEOT.
The first is rather weaker - it needs to be done before combat starts, and the opponent can choose not to attack if the conditions are unfavourable. The second is a lot more powerful. (For just pumping your attackers though note that it's not as efficient as Leonin Sun Standard.)
Wasn't sure whether to make Behemoth green, red or black. Red because its powers are quite electrical (and very burny). Black because more than any other Endbringer it's all about killing capes. Went for green in the end because green gets deathtouch + trample, which for once I think is justified here, and because Behemoth is "land" where Leviathan is "sea" and The Simurgh is "sky".
As discussed on Leviathan. Not sure if the regeneration ability is sensible here or not.
This is my attempt at capturing the Simurgh's "walking bomb" effect she has on those who are around her. Should it say "you don't control"?
Could alternatively focus on her precognition or ability to copy Tinker abilities around her. But those are both blue effects, and Leviathan really wants to be blue (as for that matter does Khonsu) and I don't think we want all the Endbringers to be blue...
Endbringers seem sensible candidates for huge mythic beatsticks. Not sure whether they should all have Annihilator like the colourless Eldrazi, or just Leviathan (Leviathan is the city-killer, Behemoth the cape-killer).
The regenerate ability I'm thinking should go on at least Behemoth as well; not sure about The Simurgh and the others. It looks weird, but it's the same wording as on Mossbridge Troll.
Suggest "Illusion" instead of "Human" for the token. Since we're going the spoilers route anyway :P
Since he can recreate the Siberian in a different place if he wants to, might this even want to be "
: Sacrifice all creatures you control named The Siberian, then put a 5/5 etc OTB"? (Along with the LTB trigger, obviously.)
Also I think this should be rare.
Initial stab at the Siberian
crank default size up to 3 if we're doing clockwork
All but the strongest can escape. Basically Arachnus Web
Going with a clockwork ability.
Weld's a good guy. He tends to stick to things when he gets in a fight.
But he can get big and strong and pointy, if you give him some time to build up to it.