New Mechanics and Abilities...

[DÛke]

...

These were accumulated onto me over the times. They are basically new abilities and card mechanics.

Curse - You can't play this spell if you already have cast a spell this turn. If you play this spell, you can't play further spells for the remainder of the turn.

Example cards:

Curse of the Fallen (3B)
Sorcery
Curse
Look at target player's hand and choose a nonland card there. Remove that card from the game. Search that player's library for a copy of that card and remove it from the game. Shuffle that player's library.

Inner Beast (2GG)
Creature - Beast
Curse
Whenever you cast a spell with Curse, put a +1/+1 counter on Inner Beast.
5/5

-----------

Alter: X - Alter is similar in nature to Kicker and the split cards. You may play this card by paying the Alter cost INSTEAD of its original mana cost, if you do, the card will do its Alter effect rather than its original effect.

Example cards:

Curse of the Angels (1WW)
Instant
Alter: 1UU.
Remove target artifact or enchantment from the game.
If you paid the Alter cost, counter target spell instead.

Choice of Learning (UUUU)
Instant
Alter: 3U
Draw 3 cards.
If you paid the Alter cost, each player draws 4 cards instead.

Those are only the beginning. I have a lot more ideas.

 

[DÛke]

...

Libido - X: The next spell you cast after this costs up to X less to play. Libido is a mechanic granted for all the type of cards. Libido may also have the next spell costs less colored mana, which could become mighty helpful, especially in todays environment.

Examples:

Breeze from Paradise (1G)
Instant
Libido: B, U, W, G, or R.
Until end of the turn, whenever you tap a land for mana, you may add one mana of any one color instead.

Sinful Angel (5W)
Creature - Angel
Libido: 3 or BB.
Flying, protection from Blue, White, and Green.
3/3

-----------

Berserk - X or Y: After this creature attacks, before the attack phase ends, you may pay X to untap this creature and have it attack again. Y is for an effect of some sort, example: "sacrifice a creature". Berserk can only be used once per turn. If this ability exists, it would probably be granted to Red, Black, some Green and Blue creatures. White creatures would rarely see this ability unless the X is Red or Black mana.

Examples:

Dark Invader (1B)
Creature - Soldier
Berserk: 1B.
2/1

Demonic Force (4B)
Creature - Demon
Berserk: Sacrifice a creature.
If you use Demonic Force's Berserk ability, Demonic Force gains +X/+X where X is the sacrificed creature's power.
3/3

Master Vampire (3BB)
Creature - Vampire
Flying
Berserk: BB and pay X life.
If you use Master Vampire's Berserk ability, Master Vampire gains +X/-X until end of the turn.
3/3

Spirit of War (4R)
Creature - Spirit
Haste
Berserk: Deal 3 damage to target creature or player.
If you use Spirit of War's Berserk ability, sacrifice it at the end of the turn.
3/3

Provocative Angel (3WW)
Creature - Angel
Flying
Berserk: BB or RR.
Prevent all combat damage dealt to Provocative Angel.
3/3

Many more to come.

 

[DÛke]

...

Nexus: Nexus is a very flexible and amazing ability. Instead of paying a card with Nexus mana cost, you may discard another card with Nexus that shares at least one color with the card. Also, when you cast a card with a Nexus, you may play another card with Nexus that shares at least one color without paying it's mana cost. However, you can't cast a Nexus Instant during your opponent's turn and follow it up with a Nexus Sorcery or a Nexus Creature. At the beginning of your upkeep step, you may remove a Nexus card in your hand from the game to return another Nexus card from your graveyard into your hand. These cards must at least share one color.

Examples:

Dishearten (2UU)
Instant
Nexus
Counter target spell.

Lightning Stream (2RRR)
Creature - Elemental
Nexus
Haste, Trample, First Strike
At the end of the turn, sacrifice Lightning Stream if you cast it by Nexus.
4/1

Creation of the Mind (UBR)
Enchantment
Nexus
As Creation of the Mind comes into play from your hand, put an Illusion token into play. Treat it as a 2/2 Black creature with Flying and Haste.
Whenever Creation of the Mind leaves play, sacrifice the token.
At the beginning of your upkeep step, return Creation of the Mind back to owner's hand.

Insult (BW)
Instant
Nexus
Remove target artifact or enchantment from the game.

*****Note that some of these cards would be amazing. Insult, for example, can be cast without using White mana at all, using the Nexus ability. This gives Black the power to finally Disenchant stuff. Could Nexus be broken? I dunno.

 

[Spiderman]

Nexus seems very similiar to Dream Halls. And if people found a way to "break" it, they can probably find a way to break this

 

[DÛke]

...When working with Nexus, we must keep the cards not very powerful, because yes, a situation with broken effects is bound to happen.

There shouldn't be a lot of cards with Nexus in the first place to disable a person from building a deck fully reliant on Nexus. Just basically good cards, like Dishearten and Lightning Stream.

New mechanic ahead:

Flowover - [color]: You can't play this spell unless the last spell you cast was of the chosen color.

Imagine this: when you cast a magic spell, some leftover (flowoever) energy from that spell is left behind. The new spell you cast (the one with flowover) could adapt into that spell somehow, taking the basic abilities of that color into the new spell.

Example:

Light from the Deep (2B)
Instant
Flowover: White or Green.
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.

Nature's Mercilessness (G)
Enchantment
Flowover: Red or Black.
Creature's you control gains +1/-1.

Foce to Submission (UU)
Instant
Flowover: White, Black, or Green.
Counter target spell. Its caster sacrifices a permanent.

Of course, there's a lot more to come.

 

[DÛke]

...

If you think Flying is good, you'll think Evasion is amazing:

Evasion - X: When a creature with Evasion attacks, it is unblockable unless a player pays X. Spells targeting a creature with Evasion costs X more to play. X is mostly colorless mana, since making it colored mana would make it much harder to block/target the creatures. Though, there ARE creatures with colored-evasion...they're rare.

Examples:

Gleaming Pegasus (4W)
Creature - Pegasus
Flying, Evasion: W.
As Gleaming Pegasus comes into play, tap all non White creatures.
2/2

Wizard of Darkness (1BB)
Creature - Wizard
Evasion: B.
Tap: Target creature gains "Evasion: B" until end of the turn.
"Darkness is in everyone one of us. It can easily be retrieved."
1/1

Utopian Butterfly (G)
Creature - Butterfly
Flying, Evasion: G.
Sacrifice Utopian Butterfly: Add one mana of any one color to your mana pool.
0/1

Blaze Lightning (2RRR)
Creature - Elemental
Haste, First Strike, Evasion: 3.
3/1

More later...

 

[DÛke]

...and this one is extra special.

Momentum - X: This permanent comes into play with X Momentum counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a Momentum counter from it, if you can't, put X Momentum counters on it.

Lightwing Angel (4W)
Creature - Angel
Momentum: 1.
Lightwing Angel doesn't tap to attack.
As long as Lightwing Angel has a Momentum counter on it, it gains Flying.
3/4

Realm Shifter (1UU)
Creature - Illusion
Momentum: 1.
Realm shifter can't be the target of spells or abilities.
As long as Realm Shifter has a Momentum counter on it, it's unblockable.
(2/2)

Spell Boundary (3U)
Enchantment
Momentum: 4.
Spells with total mana cost of X can't be played, where X is the number of Momentum counters on Spell Boundary.

Demon's Momentum (B)
Enchant Creature
Momentum: 1.
As long as Demon's Momentum has a Momentum counter on it, enchanted creature gains +2/+0 and can't be blocked except by artifact and black creatures.

Heavenly Light (W)
Enchantment
Momentum: 2.
As long as Divine Light has no Momentum counters on it, creatures you control gain +1/+1, and protection from Black and Red.

Temporal Warping (3UU)
Enchantment
Momentum: 2.
At the end of your turn, if Temporal Warping has no Momentum counters on it, take and extra turn.

*****I could go making Momentum cards forever, and each would still be unique and fun. Momentum would really make a perfect set...it's a very, very, very flexible and workable mechanic.

This thread is gonna become my index to useful mechanics...I just hope WotC see this. They HAVE stole Kicker from me before...so...my hope is way up.

 

[Thallid Ice Cream Man]

These mechanics are very interesting.
I like them all, except Berserk. Being able to attack twice every turn is a serious advantage, so you need to make Berserk cards have major penalties, as opposed to just being average even without the Berserk.
I'm a little leery of Nexus... It could be fine, if you make sure that Nexus cards aren't abusable.

The rest of the abilities seem fine.
BTW, I like Lightwing Angel (when in doubt, change one letter).

 

[DÛke]

...Thank you Thallid Ice Cream Dude.

Nexus is very powerful, I'm aware of that. The cards will hafta be perfectly watched in order to make sure non are overpowered.

I disagree about your point of view of Berserk though. Let's take Dark Invader for example: It's a 2/1 for 1B, which is nice...in combat, the chances that a 2/1 survives are low, meaning the Dark Invader will only be able to re-fight if there are no or weak creatures in play. Should the Invader be able to attack again, you'll hafta pay 1B (the cost again)...meaning you most likely wont be able to play anything else. Provocative Angel's Berserk is hard to play...surely it is powerful after you play it though. Demonic Force is overly overcosted, plus, you'll hafta feed it a creature to enable it to attack again. Master Vampire suffers from the same disadvantages the Demonic Force has. Spirit of War MAYBE too powerful. Maybe. Don't forget, all combat damage on these creatures still remains...so if you wanna attack again, you'll be takin' risks.

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

Curse
Its pretty interesting. This reminds me of a series of spells/lands you did for subterfuge.

Alter
Alter is split cards.

Libido
Is really cool, 5 color Libido cards would be a great advantage for 5C. Its very hard to keep track of, rule wise.

Berserk
Berserk reminds me of that rumor that was out pre-invasion. Blitz creatures or something like that, that could attack twice. Berserk would have to be worded to say that you get an additional combat phase (That can apply only to creatures whose beserk cost has been paid this turn) or else it would be really chaotic.

Nexus
Interesting, but its two abilties in one.
I would not include the second part about being able to cast a second spell for free. It seems very confusing. Maybe if it were an ability in itself that didnt have an official wording, like:

Yo
4U
Instant
Draw two cards.
When Yo comes into play, you may play any card from your hand as an instant and without paying its mana cost.

...or something like that.

Flowover
Flowover reminds me alot of Curse.
However, the examples given are quite interesting. This is probablly the best ability here.

Evasion
Is pretty interesting...I like the built in propaganda.

Momentum
I dont really understand this ability. The only example given that seems to make sense is Spell Boundary (Which is a *very* interesting card.)
The cards that refer to having or not having momentum counters...if you just put them back on during your upkeep, then wont it always have momentum counters on it?
I hope Im missing something here.

Overall, alot of these abilites are really cool Duke. Alot of them could make do with just having the mechanic on the card, not making it an official abiltiy.

 

[DÛke]

...

Curse is cool because we could make cards that would normally cost too much mana. Some ideas, believe me, are not explored because of the insanity of their cost...somethings just cost too much to be made into the game. Curse cures that.

Alter is split cards, yes. Split cards are really cool and flexible, but it's kinda wacky to have a set full of split cards...Alter is a better way for wording the split cards.

Libido is kinda confusing...and does require a lot of thought in order to make it a workable mechanic in any given deck. I think this is one of the rare strategies that really require the patience, focus, and intelligence of a player.

I kinda agree with you about Nexus. However, my idea was driven from the Slivers from the Rath Cycle. My idea was to make spells connect with each other (like the Slivers).

Now, to explain Momentum. Let's look at the card Lightwing Angel, from the examples I have above. She comes into play with 1 Momentum counter on her. The ability says that she has flying AS LONG AS she has a Momentum counter on her, so she comes into play with flying. At the beginning of your upkeep step, you will remove the Momentum counter from the angel, therefore, she will lose flying for the remainder of the turn. However, during the upkeep of NEXT turn, you will NOT be able to remove a Momentum counter form the Angel, therefore, you will put a Momentum counter on her, thus giving her the flying ability once again. This goes on until the angel is...gone.

The Momentum ability is like phasing, but it's for the abilities of the card, not the whole card.

Let's take another example: Heavenly Light, which comes into play with 2 Momentum counters on it. The ability says: "As long as Heavenly Light has NO counters on it...", but it DOES have counters on it, 2 of them. Next turn, you remove a counter. The following turn you'd remove another, meaning that it will have NO counters on it. NOW the ability triggers, giving all your creatures the +1/+1 bonus and the protection. The turn after that, you'll have to put 2 Momentum counters on Heavenly Light, since it has no counters on it. This process fluctuates, giving you advantage every other turn.

It's quite interesting.

Speaking of interesting, how about this ability:

Lock: All permanents tapped to pay for this spell's casting cost do not untap at the beginning of your next turn's untap step. Lock is like Echo, but it's only for Sorceries and Instant.

Examples:

Counterattack (2W)
Instant
Lock
Attacking creatures gain -1/-1 until end of the turn.
Blocking creatures gain +1/+1 until end of the turn.

Lightning Focus (R)
Instant
Lock
Lightning Focus deals 3 damage to target creature or player.

Future Primitive (1UU)
Sorcery
Lock
Take an extra turn after this one.

 

[DÛke]

...

Darktap – X (or Y): At the beginning of your upkeep step, you may pay X (or do the Y effect) and tap this creature. If you do, put a Dark counter on this creature.

These creatures are known to be evil...they can tap into their dark energy to unviel even greater powers of the dark. Black and Red are the masters of this ability, while Blue tries to make the most of it. White and Green very rarely tap into such dark, inhumane power. This dark energy enables the creatures to become more powerful, and it teaches the creatures more abilities and skills…

Examples:

Unexplained Shadow (1B)
Creature – Unknown
Darktap: Pay 1 life.
If Unexplained Shadow has a Dark counter on it, it can’t be blocked except by artifact and Black creatures.
1: Unexplained Shadow gains +1/+1 until end of the turn. Use this ability once each.
1/1

Untrained Assassin (2B)
Creature - Assassin
Darktap: 0.
2B, Tap: Destroy target non Black creature. It can’t regenerate. Use this ability only if Untrained Assassin has a Dark counter on it.
1/1

Pure Evil (2B)
Creature - Wizard
Darktap: Remove cards in your hand from the game.
BB, pay X life, remove a Dark counter from Pure Evil: Draw X cards.
0/3

Goblin Warlord (2R)
Creature - Goblin
Darktap: RR.
If Goblin Warlord has 1 or more Dark counter on it, creatures you control gain First Strike.
If Goblin Warlord has 2 or more Dark counters on it, creatures you control gain Haste.
If Goblin Warlord has 3 or more Dark counters on it, creatures you control gain +1/+1.
After several uses of the dark energy, he discovered the power’s true potential…
2/2

Wararora (1RR)
Creature – Dark Warrior
Haste, Darktap: Tap all lands you control.
When Wararora is put into the graveyard from play, return it back to owner’s hand.
1RR: Wararora’s power doubles until end of the turn. Use this ability only if Wararora has a Dark counter on it.
2/1

Darklight Elemental (3WW)
Creature – Elemental
Flying, Darktap: Tap all White and Black creatures you control, and put a -1/-1 counter on them.
As long as Darklight Elemental has a Dark counter on it, non White and non Black creatures don’t untap during their controllers’ untap step.
3/3

Demanolic Spirit (3BW)
Creature – Spirit
Flyin, Darktap: Sacrifice a permanent.
Remove a Dark counter from Demanolic Spirit, Tap: Put a Light counter on Demanolic Spirit.
Remove a Light counter from Demanolic Spirit, Tap: Put a Dark counter on Demanolic Spirit.
If Demanolic Spirit has a Dark counter on it, it’s Black and it gains +1/+0.
If Demanolic Spirit has a Light counter on it, it’s White and it gains +0/+3.
Remove a Dark counter from Demanolic Spirit, Tap: Target player sacrifices a creature.
Remove a Light counter from Demanolic Spirit, Tap: Target player sacririces an enchantment.
Remove a Dark and a Light counter from Demanolic Spirit, Tap: Destroy target permanent.
3/3

 

[FoundationOfRancor]

Uh, ok...that Libido is still just a more limited curse.

I understand Momentum now, but the time period seems a little bit to short to have any real effect on the game or cards (This is refering to cards that only do an effect when they have or dont have counters on them).

Lock is echo, only worse because you cant decide not to pay the echo cost. I understand what your doing with the non-permanent echo thing, but it needs a restriction. (Like echo, if you didnt pay the cost, you had to sacrifice it. Lets say you return a couple islands to your hand because of a Thwart, and cant tap all the lands. What then?)

Darktap I really like, but again I think making it have official wording is overly confusing.

Good ideas!