papa_funk ([info]papa_funk) wrote,
@ 2006-11-03 01:20:00
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Magic Great Designer Search Test #4
Test #4 got released. In it, the designers were randomly assigned 1 cycle each of rare, uncommon and common. At least 1 had to be tight and 1 had to be loose. Then, at most 50 words to talk about each cycle.

I got out my trusty die, and randomly assigned myself instants, creatures and enchantments.






Instants (Common)

Rewarding Bolt
R
Instant
Rewarding Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Target opponent draws a card.


Rewarding Mists
U
Instant
Return two target creatures to their owners hand.
Target opponent draws a card.


Rewarding Demise
B
Instant
Destroy target non-black creature.
Target opponent draws a card.


Rewarding Growth
G
Instant
Search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped.
Target opponent draws a card.


Rewarding Blink
W
Instant
Remove target creature from the game, then return it to play under it's owner's control.
Target opponent draws a card.



A tight cycle of staple abilities for each color, as needed in common. Is the power level jacked up enough to make the reverse-cantrip (a reversal from many traditional cycles) worthwhile?



Creatures (Uncommon)


Airfoil Auradon
3U
Creature - Auradon
1/1
Flying
Airfoil Aurodon gets +1/+1
3: Search your library for an Auradon and remove it from the game. Airfoil Aurodon gains all abilities of that creature.

Valorous Auradon
1W
Creature - Aurodon
1/1
Vigilance
Valorous Aurodon gets +0/+2
3: Search your library for an Auradon and remove it from the game. Valorous Aurodon gains all abilities of that creature.


Enraged Auradon
2R
Creature - Aurodon
1/1
R: +1/+0 until end of turn
Enraged Aurodon gets +2/+0
3: Search your library for an Auradon and remove it from the game. Enraged Aurodon gains all abilities of that creature.


Behemoth Auradon
3GG
Creature - Aurodon
2/2
Trample
Behemoth Aurodon gets +2/+2
3: Search your library for an Auradon and remove it from the game. Behemoth Aurodon gains all abilities of that creature.

Skeletal Auradon
1BB
Creature - Aurodon
1/1
B: Regenerate
Skeletal Aurodon gets +1/+1
3: Search your library for an Auradon and remove it from the game. Skeletal Aurodon gains all abilities of that creature.


Uncommon is the perfect place for this loose cycle, whose mana costs and abilities would need to be balanced carefully in playtesting. It lets limited players try to find 2 or 3 in a draft, and gives budget Timmies the chance to build huge creatures, provided they are willing to pour in the mana.





Enchantments (Rare)


Sigil of the Grave
1BB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Sigil of the Grave may only enchant a creature you control
Whenever a creature you control other than enchanted creature is put into a graveyard from play, each other player sacrifices a creature.

Sigil of Opposition
1UU
Sigil of Opposition may only enchant a creature you control
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Tap a creature other than enchanted creature: Tap target artifact or creature.


Sigil of the Earth
1GG
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Sigil of the Earth may only enchant a creature you control
Tap a creature other than enchanted creature: Untap target basic land


Sigil of Violence
1RR
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Sigil of Violence may only enchant a creature you control
If a creature you control other than enchanted creature would deal damage to a creature or player, it deals double that damage to that creature or player instead.


Sigil of Humility
1WW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Sigil of Humility may only enchant a creature you control
All creatures other than enchanted creature lose all abilities and are 1/1


This set takes iconic enchantments from Magic's past and reimagines them as auras. A twist: the enchanted creature itself is the only one unaffected, making for interesting play decisions. The drawbacks of a) being Auras and b) needing two creatures to make most of them useful allows for compelling costs.

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[info]elklad
2006-11-03 02:58 pm UTC (link)
The commons are nice and simple, but I think that drawback would be very unpopular regardless of its actual impact. Personally, I like Demise and Blink, while Bolt and Mists might be annoying in tempo-oriented decks where the drawback isn't going to make much difference. Growth seems too weak as printed. What if the land came into play untapped, or you could fetch any land?

I really like both the uncommons and the rares, though. I'd rather play with auradons than slivers, for example. (I'm not sure why slivers remain so popular; to me they were worth doing once, but not three times.) Of the rares, Sigil of Humility is my favorite; I like the flavor of one creature enforcing humility on others. I also like that not all Sigils are best played on your strongest creature.

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[info]winterborne
2006-11-06 11:17 pm UTC (link)
The commons worry me both from a popularity perspective and with regard to power level. MaRo's beaten the popularity issue to a pulp in his most recent article, so no need to repeat. Regarding power, Rewarding Mists looks utterly disgusting in limited (where Undo and Rushing River are both reasonable first picks). Mists also benefits from having a good chance at forcing discard if used at the end of the opponent's turn, mitigating the drawback of giving the opponent a card. In constructed, all of the Bolt, Mists, and Demise could be very potent in any deck that benefits from giving the opponent cards, tends to strand cards, or beats down too quickly to care about giving up card advantage. That's a lot of different decks, and a lot of potential power problems.

I like the Auradons. The "this gets +X/+X" ability is a little clunky, but probably worth it to make the cards work. You are right to make them uncommon, as each is on curve even without the upgrade ability.

The rares leave me feeling very conflicted. On the one hand, the fragility of creature enchantments is a nice way to weaken the effects of these powerful past enchantments, and I like that most of the enchantments are themselves powered by creatures, so that having the enchanted creature be unavailable is a nice bit of pain. On the other, some of these are cheaper than the originals - particularly relevant for a denial enchantment like Opposition, where you might lock the opponent out of mana a turn earlier than you ever could have before. My favorite here is the same as [info]elklad's: Humility, where bouncing or killing the host creature mid-combat can wreak such havoc.

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[info]papa_funk
2006-11-07 03:21 am UTC (link)
Yeah, Mists is definitely too good and Growth is too weak. Hard to balance them and keep them in a tight cycle, but that's what Development is for :)

I'm not that worried about the "popularity" thing, since, as you correctly observe, some players will see that as a challenge to turn it into an advantage.

Note, BTW, that Sigil of Opposition doesn't let you tap lands. I'm not insane :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]sandra_snan
2008-09-22 02:46 pm UTC (link)
Alliances had this "reverse-cantrip" theme going as an activated ability on some cards. Didn't go well with players.

The rare cycle is sick. Tap almost any creature to tap most types of permanents? Then again, you'd need three cards in play just to be able to start tapping...

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