Some of my completed designs (& new keyword abilities)

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Gizmo

Guest


I really like this a lot. Kind of mana fixes like a BoP, but is a 1/1 that can swing, like a Llanowar Elf. It seems really fair and would be a real bonus in Limited as a mana fixer. It’s one of my favourite designs - I really like the cards with a 'back to basics' re-imagining of core abilities and themes.





My keyword ability ‘Hatred of’ that works like an inverted Affinity. In the set I was devising it would be about tribal conflicts that had Hatred for each other (Illusions vs Dragons, Clerics vs Barbarians, Merfolk vs Elves) and the ability also works for other uses, such as this one above.

The Hatred ability seems on paper to be very well balanced, and it would be interesting to see it’s impact on limited. A chaff common with Hatred could arrive two or three turns earlier against certain opponents and in fact be a game winner.





Two cards with another new keyword ability – Refresh. It falls somewhere between Flashback and Buyback in allowing you to recur an effect more than once, depending on how many copies you have in your deck. Again this makes it an interesting factor in drafts (much like Ripple did in Coldsnap) and poor cards in enough multiples become a viable strategy. For instance there was a Refresh (1U: Target players puts the top 4 cards of their library into the graveyard) then it would be interesting how many of those you’d need to pick up before they become a win condition.

I also want to try this ability on creatures, although I’ve got a feeling that’s going to be a little too good (effectively giving each colour a cycle of Auroch Herds.







A neat convergence of flavor, art, and ability. I like how ‘neat’ this design is, ticking all the boxes right down to the referencing of Thieving Magpie.





like cards that have both players making a decision - Fact Or Fiction is a good example of this, it really adds a lot of mindgames and skill to the game.

In this case the player casting the Wish has to try and second-guess what his opponent is going to name and maybe not get the #1 most obvious card, and the opponent also then has to decide if he cares more about a specific card that he thinks he can guess just came in from the SB, or if he wants to name something more generic like Damnation.

I'm really proud of this one, it really feels like 'a good design' in that it's fun, encourages player interaction on multiple levels, and is potentially also very competitive.





I think this is fair – Red’s Rogue Elephant!



The big bad Barbarian... originally he double-striked but that was going to be far too mean with his 'sacrifice when damaged' ability so I canned that idea and gave him Firebreathing. Great artwork!


More of my cards are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6404&l=088a7&id=631552000
 

Ransac

CPA Trash Man
I really like Planar Isolation and Undying Sorrow. The first elf is really good and I'd love to get a playset of them. I'm not sure what I think about Voin. I'm not sold on the synergy of the special abilities. Can you explain why for each one?


Also, I friend requested you on Facebook.

Ransac, cpa trash man
 

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
Planar Isolation - Players can not target themselves or permanents they control.

This may be too strong for just 2cc.... But since it's blue, I like it

Savant's Wish - the "outside the game" mechanic is one of the worst ones that WoTC ever came up with.... "Oh we are playing at my house so my collection is available but you didn't lug yours over here so there"
Or, players going to go buy a card from the vendor at a tournament....
Or, choosing a card in another players deck that is not playing in your game..... It doesn't say you have to own the card, just that it's outside your game.

Might be better to limit it to sideboard and/or removed from game zone...


Refresh - This is neat interaction, but couldn't this be done more effectively with kicker or another tiggered ability, like:
"Whenever ~ is put into your graveyard you may search you library for a ~ card and put it into your hand."


The Sheep is way cool...... great pic. Maybe it could make all creatures 0/1 sheep.... like humility.......

The Elf is a great land fixing mana producer, I might be inclined to make the land swap a definate, instead of a may..... for 1cc there has to be some slight draw back.... hahaha

Hatred - seems like a cool mechanic, but the cards have to usefull without it... This could be come very abused in limited play.....

Do you have a whole set? Playtesting it would be interesting.
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Ransac said:
I really like Planar Isolation and Undying Sorrow. The first elf is really good and I'd love to get a playset of them. I'm not sure what I think about Voin. I'm not sold on the synergy of the special abilities. Can you explain why for each one?


Also, I friend requested you on Facebook.

Ransac, cpa trash man

Aaaah so YOU were the opera guy! I think you might have to try again... I didn't know who it was so ignored the request. Sorry!
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
Mooseman said:
Savant's Wish - the "outside the game" mechanic is one of the worst ones that WoTC ever came up with.... "Oh we are playing at my house so my collection is available but you didn't lug yours over here so there"
Or, players going to go buy a card from the vendor at a tournament....
Or, choosing a card in another players deck that is not playing in your game..... It doesn't say you have to own the card, just that it's outside your game.

Might be better to limit it to sideboard and/or removed from game zone...


Refresh - This is neat interaction, but couldn't this be done more effectively with kicker or another tiggered ability, like:
"Whenever ~ is put into your graveyard you may search you library for a ~ card and put it into your hand."

The Elf is a great land fixing mana producer, I might be inclined to make the land swap a definate, instead of a may..... for 1cc there has to be some slight draw back.... hahaha

Do you have a whole set? Playtesting it would be interesting.
It's interesting that you say the Wishes are a bad mechanic when it's recently been voted the best cycle of rare cards ever printed by readers of magicthegathering.com. All the text on the Wish part of the card comes direct from the template for other Wishes, so the wording should be correct (in tournaments it's always taken as only being your sideboard, btw). I think it stays as it is, to be honest.

The idea of giving a cost to the Refresh ability is a very good one, I dont know why I hadn't thought of this previously. I will almost certainly take this on board - as a general rule any ability with a cost is more interesting from a design point of view because you can then play with what that cost is (mana, card discard, sacrifices, skip untaps, anything at all). An excellent suggestion, although I'd keep it keyworded.


I'm not sure quite how good the Elf actually is. It's possible he's too good and I should restrict him to sacrificing a Forest to get a non-Forest basic land.
 

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
Gizmo said:
It's interesting that you say the Wishes are a bad mechanic when it's recently been voted the best cycle of rare cards ever printed by readers of magicthegathering.com. All the text on the Wish part of the card comes direct from the template for other Wishes, so the wording should be correct (in tournaments it's always taken as only being your sideboard, btw). I think it stays as it is, to be honest.
Burning Wish: Choose a sorcery you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Remove Burning Wish from the game.

You missed the ownership part.... And I know the difference in tourneys, but I still think the "outside the game" part is horrible for casual players....

Gizmo said:
The idea of giving a cost to the Refresh ability is a very good one, I dont know why I hadn't thought of this previously. I will almost certainly take this on board - as a general rule any ability with a cost is more interesting from a design point of view because you can then play with what that cost is (mana, card discard, sacrifices, skip untaps, anything at all). An excellent suggestion, although I'd keep it keyworded.
I have 1 or 2 good ideas every millennium or so... hehe


Gizmo said:
I'm not sure quite how good the Elf actually is. It's possible he's too good and I should restrict him to sacrificing a Forest to get a non-Forest basic land.
I would just take out the may part, so the player has to sac a land and fetch another. keep the choice out of it...
 
B

Budget Player Cadet

Guest
Hey, man, I think those cards are awesome. Unfortunately, my computer couldn't see half of them. Did you draw them yourself? When, then i take my hat off to you; those look great. Hey, you should take a look at my article; I have a bunch of new card ideas. Maybe we could work together on that, huh?
 
B

Budget Player Cadet

Guest
Huh, that sucks. I'd actually love to meet someone who has interest in making cards too. Say, you're an authority here, do you have any idea what you should do to get cards printed? I'm gunning for a place in R&D, but I'm stuck in Germany, soo...
 
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