Wasteful Miner obviously wants to combo with some effect that benefits from your land going to the graveyard. I feel like being able to freely send land from the battlefield to the graveyard probably has more combo potential than the mana you're getting for doing it. It seems pretty fair to me, though.
Here is a card that is not fair, and would definitely combo with your card. Much higher CMC due to how ridiculous it is. I wanted to call this Scorched Earth but it has already been taken by a Tempest card (interestingly that card has a similar concept).
Revenge of Jund3RGB
Legendary Enchantment (R)
Whenever a land you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may destroy target land.
Even considering the massive cost, I suspect this still needs to have some trigger cost for you to blow up the lands (the "you may pay something, if you do" kind of thing). At least Grave Pact doesn't stop you from casting noncreature spells... Of course, if you do add such a trigger cost, the casting cost for the enchantment itself may go down.
Speaking of trigger cost
Elvish Naturalist3G
Creature - Elf Warrior (U)
Whenever Elvish Naturalist or another Elf creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 1G. If you do,destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls. "Only the forest and its favored children may exist here."
3/3
Epiphyte-Bearer - I can't help but think this would be cooler as a 2/4 vigilance that got you a forest... also, I wouldn't be adverse to it entering untapped, so combo with sacrifice outlets.
Hmm, Vigilance, maybe. Not feeling it ETBing untapped, because I think that'd increase the CC a bit maybe. Forest, though... Actually, yeah, that's a good idea. Treefolk get forests regardless of color, other creatures get other land types. That works!
Elvish Naturalist3G
Creature - Elf Warrior (U)
Whenever Elvish Naturalist or another Elf creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 1G. If you do,destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls. "Only the forest and its favored children may exist here."
3/3
Comments?
Pretty good, but a little unexciting at that CC. Suggest making it 1 cheaper and a 2/2, perhaps 2/3 or 3/2.
Smoldering Pine 3R
Creature - Treefolk Shaman 1R , Sacrifice Smoldering Pine: Smoldering Pine deals damage equal to its defense to target creature or player.
When Smoldering Pine dies, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put a forest card revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your graveyard.
2/4
Would be pretty sick as it is with just the damage ability. Pure red for grabbing a forest card is a little weird. I would say make it 2GR and make it a rare, but to each it's own, could be a really nice card.
Mulak, Vermin Overlord 2BB
Lengendary Creature - Rat Wizard MR
Rat creatures you control have deathtouch.
Whenever a Rat dies, Rat creatures you control get +1/+0 until the end of turn.
Whenever you cast a Rat spell, create a 1/1 black rat creature token.
Sacrifice a Rat: Target Rat gains fear until the end of turn.
2/3
Re: a red card searching for forests - think something like Infect being in all five colors in Scars block, or that pair of cards in MBS, the red forestwalk creatire and green mountainwalk creature. Bleeds that make sense in context. Thus, this.
Regarding your card, I'd change Fear to Menace maybe. Also switch the second and third abilities in sequence so it's clearer what's happening with the mass pump and the sack effect.
New card coming shortly, want to look up a thing! E: didn't find what I wanted. Oh well. Did think of something!
Hobblethicket 2W
Creature - Plant
Defender
Creatures blocked by Hobblethicket don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
When Hobblethicket dies, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put a plains card revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your graveyard.
1/4
Mulak, Vermin Overlord 2BB
Lengendary Creature - Rat Wizard MR
Rat creatures you control have deathtouch.
Whenever a Rat dies, Rat creatures you control get +1/+0 until the end of turn.
Whenever you cast a Rat spell, create a 1/1 black rat creature token.
Sacrifice a Rat: Target Rat gains fear until the end of turn.
2/3
The second ability on this is weakened a lot due to the fact that when rats die from damage in combat, the +1/+0 they gain will be useless. So I would swap the abilities and change them up slightly for obvious reasons: "Whenever a non-token rat dies, create a 1/1 black rat creature token. Whenever you cast a rat spell, rats you control get +1/+0 until end of turn."
Hobblethicket 2W
Creature - Plant
Defender
Creatures blocked by Hobblethicket don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
When Hobblethicket dies, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put a plains card revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your graveyard.
1/4
Seems reasonable, but I'd be tempted to lower it to 1W and make it 0/4. Cards like this are anti-aggro and are only going to see play if they can get out early enough.
Chain VindicateRR
Sorcery (R)
Destroy target permanent. That permanent's controller may copy this effect. (They control the copy and choose the target. The copy includes the text about the controller creating a copy, so this effect is repeated until a player chooses not to copy it, or when there are no legal targets on the battlefield)
Thoughts on balancing this... Chain Lightning is generally considered less powerful than Lightning Bolt because the copying effect usually will help the opponent more than the original caster, and they always have the choice of not using it in the circumstances where copying is worse. Therefore, this card should cost less than Vindicate in order to be of equal power. I also moved it to red since the effect is consistent with red as well as black-white.
Erm.... well, as long as we don't have a reverse Pariah effect (a la Stuffy Doll) in the same set as One Punch, I probably can say this works. Otherwise... really?
Banable card.
Epochless GatewayU
Sorcery (M)
Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library, then draws seven cards. Until your next turn, each opponent may cast one spell as though it had flash without paying its mana cost, and a spell cast this way has Spit Second. Exile Epochless Gateway.
I know, cheaper than Timetwister, and the drawback generally is rendered moot if you have, say, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, but having someone go Emrakul on your face for free is probably bad enough drawback. Comments?
Epochless Gateway is really cool, although the name feels awkward. It's just very non-standard to put a suffix like that on "epoch", even if it is grammatically correct. I would call it Timeless Gateway. I don't think it's too strong at all, but I also think Timetwister effects are usually very overrated by the designers. Timetwister is sometimes not even played in Vintage decks that run blue, and nearly all of the attempts to design new cards that use the effect end up unplayable (aside from Time Spiral which I think is actually the best card of that type). Actually I think your penalty might be a bit too strong. In general I think your opponents are going to be pretty happy when you play this card against them. Instead of that penalty, I would have it say "Until your next turn, spells your opponents cast cannot be countered."
Dream FlutterU
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness 0
If Dream Flutter's madness cost is paid, instead Scry 1, then draw a card.
Dream Flutter would be so much more well designed as
NameU (Really cost could be anything here; I'd even think about costing it at 2U - IE, incentivizing you to use it in the way that everyone will).
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness 0
The text to let you scry is just an eyesore on this card.
Note that I actually think it's far too powerful even with an obscene actual casting cost, BUT there's something to be said for making it playable w/o madness in limited.
In reality, the safe (and tier 1 playable) version of this card is
NameU
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness U
Or: NameU
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness - Return an island you control to its owner's hand.
Either of which would be very easy to slot into a number of decks w/o being "absolutely must haves"; Madness 0 means any deck with enough madness outlets is running 52 cards (Street wraith... :P)... maybe 48 (mishra's bauble). Good thing there's no gitaxian probe in modern anymore.
Not TodayUU
Instant (C)
Counter target spell. Its controller may put it two cards from the top of his or her library.
Not Today is a interesting card. A bit like Remand, except that the delay is significantly longer. May be possible, if I think about it.
Peace of Greed.... Hmm... I think the activated ability should both be 1 more expensive. Something tells me that as is, this is a bit too strong. Either that, or the life payment cost should be switched, though then that makes the life gain useless.... So more cost is probably the better idea.
Next
Cemetery CultivatorBG
Creature - Human Druid (U) T: Add BG to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast spells from your graveyard or activate abilities of cards in your graveyard. "Even the dead still breathes."
1/2
Mostly useful for Flashback, Unearth, Embalm etc etc. What do you think?
Cemetery cultivator has a really cool effect. Because it's so limited in its capabilities, I think having it give two mana of any color allows it to branch out more with very change.
Planeswalker time!
Liza the Witch1RG
Planeswalker - Liza (M)
[+1]: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. If you don't, Liza the Witch deals 2 damage to you.
[-2]: Liza the Witch deals 2 damage to up to two target creatures. If a creature dealt damage this way would die,, exile it instead.
[-5]: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 6/6 red and green Gravespawn creature token with trample and haste."
Starting Loyalty: 2
1. What is a "Gravespawn"? Is it a zombie?
2. I'm not sure if I like the gamble of the +1; but it's unique.
3. -2 seems... good and yet bad? Against aggro, it's a fair removal spell. But I don't know.
4. Not a fan of the name.
That said, I don't see any reason why it can't be printed with a few tweaks. Nice job.
Hibernating Treefolk2G
Creature - Treefolk (U)
If a spell or effect would have you search your library for a forest, you may search for this card instead.
2/3
Mentor Of Lost Eons3UU
Creature - Human Wizard (M)
Tap seven untapped creatures you control: Shuffle your hand and graveyard into your library, then draw seven cards, then sacrifice all creatures you tapped to activate this ability. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery. "There are those who are meant to chart the path to the future. Our time here is done."
2/2
I don't know if it's overpowered. But I'll say this: At some point, the Nth variant of Time twister gets boring. Are you hoping for a fixed card, 'cause this is just not the same type of card. Are you hoping for a tribal synergy? Doubtful. It feels like you're using big numbers and big effects to trick people into being excited for a card they'll never get to go off. And if it does reliably go off; due to some oversight by WOTC, they'll ban it. (Also, clearly this needs a T symbol... and should probably be a magus... with adjusted costs).
Natural Insight1G
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you reveal a basic land card from your library, you may put it onto the battlefield tapped.
If you make this black red, why doesn't it deal damage? Life loss like this is purely black's domain, there's no reason why red should be involved. And given the potential blowout this card can do (wheel effects, especially), I think 3 mana is a safer bet.
Next
Blood Portal4BG
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to cast Blood Portal, sacrifice one or more creatures.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to or less than the number of creatures you sacrifice this way and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
Comments?
EDIT:
Blood Portal2BG
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to cast Blood Portal, sacrifice one or more creatures.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to or less than the number of creatures you sacrifice this way and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
Too expensive, by far. Good idea, but too expensive.
Editing in card shortly... edit: okay this is a riff on the above.
?? UB
Instant
As an additional cost to cast ??, sacrifice any number of creatures with total converted mana cost X. X can't be 0.
Search your library for an instant card with converted mana cost X and exile it then shuffle your library. Cast that spell without paying its mana cost.
I wish I could figure out a way to add in a clause for cards with flash, but I can't figure out how to template it such that it doesn't sound awkward. I'm not even sure I have this templating down right.
As an additional cost to cast this, sacrifice any number of creature. Search your library for an instant card or a card with flash with converted mana cost equal to the total converted mana cost of creatures you sacrifice this way and cast it without paying its mana cost, then shuffle your library.
Done.
That said, I'd rather this can search instants with cost X or less instead of exactly X; sometimes you really, REALLY want to cast your cheap spell but you only have one expensive creature on board. What do you do? The cost of the card itself may need to be 4 if Flash is involved, otherwise 3 is safer.
Graveborn Amalgam4BB
Creature - Zombie Horror (R)
Menace
Graveborn Amalgam enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card in your graveyard.
Whenever Graveborn Amalgam deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a +1/+1 counter from it. If you do, return target Zombie card in your graveyard to your hand.
0/0
That's all I have to say to this card, sorry. That's a proper cost, there.
New card coming shortly.
??, Explorer 2GG
Planeswalker - ??
+2 Create a 2/2 Green Beast token.
-1 Untap target creature or land.
-8 You get an emblem with "You may play any number of lands on each of your turns."
3
Beasts are usually 3/3s, the go-to 2/2 green token is a Wolf. The -1 is fine, but the ultimate feels a bit bad to me. Sure it's a decent effect on an emblem but it'll be turn 7-8 at least before you can ultimate, at which point you've probably played most of your lands. Something like "Search your library for any number of basic lands and put them onto the battlefield tapped" would be a hell of a lot stronger and would definitely make it seem more playable.
And now for another green mythic
Siege's End3GG
Sorcery (M)
Destroy all artifacts, enchantments, and creatures with defender. "There is nothing that has been built that cannot be taken apart."
- Gallad, Siege Commander
Yeah, I think I'll change it up some. Tweaked version:
?? 1GG
Planeswalker - ??
+2 Create a 1/1 Green Human Ranger creature token.
-1 Untap target creature or land.
-6 You get an emblem with "You may play any number of lands on each of your turns." and "Each land you play after the first one on each of your turns enters the battlefield tapped."
4
This way, it goes online turn 4 and the effects show turn 5. Better now, I think.
Anyway, your card... i don't think that destroying creatures with Defender is quite within Green's pie share. I'd make it 3RG. Destroying creatures with defender isn't quite within Red's either, but that feels more like a bend than anything.
Edit: ah. Remove. Pretty simple, a straightforward cost that makes it pretty uncastable later in the game - but that's fine. Very nice, no changes suggested.
Hmm. Card, card... Ah.
?? Ritual - R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast ?? Ritual, sacrifice a land.
Add three mana in any dombination of types that land could produce to your mana pool.
Here is a card that is not fair, and would definitely combo with your card. Much higher CMC due to how ridiculous it is. I wanted to call this Scorched Earth but it has already been taken by a Tempest card (interestingly that card has a similar concept).
Revenge of Jund 3RGB
Legendary Enchantment (R)
Whenever a land you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may destroy target land.
Speaking of trigger cost
Elvish Naturalist 3G
Creature - Elf Warrior (U)
Whenever Elvish Naturalist or another Elf creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 1G. If you do,destroy target artifact or enchantment that player controls.
"Only the forest and its favored children may exist here."
3/3
Comments?
Hmm, Vigilance, maybe. Not feeling it ETBing untapped, because I think that'd increase the CC a bit maybe. Forest, though... Actually, yeah, that's a good idea. Treefolk get forests regardless of color, other creatures get other land types. That works!
Pretty good, but a little unexciting at that CC. Suggest making it 1 cheaper and a 2/2, perhaps 2/3 or 3/2.
Smoldering Pine 3R
Creature - Treefolk Shaman
1R , Sacrifice Smoldering Pine: Smoldering Pine deals damage equal to its defense to target creature or player.
When Smoldering Pine dies, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put a forest card revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your graveyard.
2/4
Shards of awful never
Mulak, Vermin Overlord 2BB
Lengendary Creature - Rat Wizard MR
Rat creatures you control have deathtouch.
Whenever a Rat dies, Rat creatures you control get +1/+0 until the end of turn.
Whenever you cast a Rat spell, create a 1/1 black rat creature token.
Sacrifice a Rat: Target Rat gains fear until the end of turn.
2/3
Regarding your card, I'd change Fear to Menace maybe. Also switch the second and third abilities in sequence so it's clearer what's happening with the mass pump and the sack effect.
New card coming shortly, want to look up a thing! E: didn't find what I wanted. Oh well. Did think of something!
Hobblethicket 2W
Creature - Plant
Defender
Creatures blocked by Hobblethicket don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
When Hobblethicket dies, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put a plains card revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your graveyard.
1/4
Shards of awful never
The second ability on this is weakened a lot due to the fact that when rats die from damage in combat, the +1/+0 they gain will be useless. So I would swap the abilities and change them up slightly for obvious reasons: "Whenever a non-token rat dies, create a 1/1 black rat creature token. Whenever you cast a rat spell, rats you control get +1/+0 until end of turn."
Seems reasonable, but I'd be tempted to lower it to 1W and make it 0/4. Cards like this are anti-aggro and are only going to see play if they can get out early enough.
Chain Vindicate RR
Sorcery (R)
Destroy target permanent. That permanent's controller may copy this effect. (They control the copy and choose the target. The copy includes the text about the controller creating a copy, so this effect is repeated until a player chooses not to copy it, or when there are no legal targets on the battlefield)
Thoughts on balancing this... Chain Lightning is generally considered less powerful than Lightning Bolt because the copying effect usually will help the opponent more than the original caster, and they always have the choice of not using it in the circumstances where copying is worse. Therefore, this card should cost less than Vindicate in order to be of equal power. I also moved it to red since the effect is consistent with red as well as black-white.
One Punch R
Instant (U)
One Punch deals 19 damage to target creature with a converted mana cost of 2 or less.
Shards of awful never
Banable card.
Epochless Gateway U
Sorcery (M)
Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library, then draws seven cards. Until your next turn, each opponent may cast one spell as though it had flash without paying its mana cost, and a spell cast this way has Spit Second. Exile Epochless Gateway.
I know, cheaper than Timetwister, and the drawback generally is rendered moot if you have, say, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, but having someone go Emrakul on your face for free is probably bad enough drawback. Comments?
Dream Flutter U
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness 0
If Dream Flutter's madness cost is paid, instead Scry 1, then draw a card.
Name U (Really cost could be anything here; I'd even think about costing it at 2U - IE, incentivizing you to use it in the way that everyone will).
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness 0
The text to let you scry is just an eyesore on this card.
Note that I actually think it's far too powerful even with an obscene actual casting cost, BUT there's something to be said for making it playable w/o madness in limited.
In reality, the safe (and tier 1 playable) version of this card is
Name U
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness U
Or:
Name U
Instant (C)
Draw a card.
Madness - Return an island you control to its owner's hand.
Either of which would be very easy to slot into a number of decks w/o being "absolutely must haves"; Madness 0 means any deck with enough madness outlets is running 52 cards (Street wraith... :P)... maybe 48 (mishra's bauble). Good thing there's no gitaxian probe in modern anymore.
Not Today UU
Instant (C)
Counter target spell. Its controller may put it two cards from the top of his or her library.
Enchantment (R)
W, Discard a card: You gain 3 life.
B, Pay 2 life: Draw a card.
Enlightenment at any cost. Money back guarantee.
Peace of Greed.... Hmm... I think the activated ability should both be 1 more expensive. Something tells me that as is, this is a bit too strong. Either that, or the life payment cost should be switched, though then that makes the life gain useless.... So more cost is probably the better idea.
Next
Cemetery Cultivator BG
Creature - Human Druid (U)
T: Add BG to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast spells from your graveyard or activate abilities of cards in your graveyard.
"Even the dead still breathes."
1/2
Mostly useful for Flashback, Unearth, Embalm etc etc. What do you think?
Planeswalker time!
Liza the Witch 1RG
Planeswalker - Liza (M)
[+1]: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. If you don't, Liza the Witch deals 2 damage to you.
[-2]: Liza the Witch deals 2 damage to up to two target creatures. If a creature dealt damage this way would die,, exile it instead.
[-5]: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 6/6 red and green Gravespawn creature token with trample and haste."
Starting Loyalty: 2
2. I'm not sure if I like the gamble of the +1; but it's unique.
3. -2 seems... good and yet bad? Against aggro, it's a fair removal spell. But I don't know.
4. Not a fan of the name.
That said, I don't see any reason why it can't be printed with a few tweaks. Nice job.
Hibernating Treefolk 2G
Creature - Treefolk (U)
If a spell or effect would have you search your library for a forest, you may search for this card instead.
2/3
More Timetwister shenanigans
Mentor Of Lost Eons 3UU
Creature - Human Wizard (M)
Tap seven untapped creatures you control: Shuffle your hand and graveyard into your library, then draw seven cards, then sacrifice all creatures you tapped to activate this ability. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
"There are those who are meant to chart the path to the future. Our time here is done."
2/2
Overpowered?
Natural Insight 1G
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you reveal a basic land card from your library, you may put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Abundance, Animal Magnetism, Beast Hunt, Commune with the Gods, Cultivate, Mulch...
Also note Bone Collector basically lets sacrifice one, "get one sacrifice for B", so it seems like it's more of a combo piece than anything else.
Also also; Black likes to block with it's skeletons, this doesn't do that.
Cut Down RB
Sorcery
Each opponent discards a card, then loses 1 life for each card discarded this turn.
Now to find 19 of my friends...
Next
Blood Portal 4BG
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to cast Blood Portal, sacrifice one or more creatures.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to or less than the number of creatures you sacrifice this way and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
Comments?
EDIT:
Blood Portal 2BG
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to cast Blood Portal, sacrifice one or more creatures.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to or less than the number of creatures you sacrifice this way and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
Editing in card shortly... edit: okay this is a riff on the above.
?? UB
Instant
As an additional cost to cast ??, sacrifice any number of creatures with total converted mana cost X. X can't be 0.
Search your library for an instant card with converted mana cost X and exile it then shuffle your library. Cast that spell without paying its mana cost.
I wish I could figure out a way to add in a clause for cards with flash, but I can't figure out how to template it such that it doesn't sound awkward. I'm not even sure I have this templating down right.
Shards of awful never
Done.
That said, I'd rather this can search instants with cost X or less instead of exactly X; sometimes you really, REALLY want to cast your cheap spell but you only have one expensive creature on board. What do you do? The cost of the card itself may need to be 4 if Flash is involved, otherwise 3 is safer.
Graveborn Amalgam 4BB
Creature - Zombie Horror (R)
Menace
Graveborn Amalgam enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card in your graveyard.
Whenever Graveborn Amalgam deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a +1/+1 counter from it. If you do, return target Zombie card in your graveyard to your hand.
0/0
Comments?
That's all I have to say to this card, sorry. That's a proper cost, there.
New card coming shortly.
??, Explorer 2GG
Planeswalker - ??
+2 Create a 2/2 Green Beast token.
-1 Untap target creature or land.
-8 You get an emblem with "You may play any number of lands on each of your turns."
3
Shards of awful never
And now for another green mythic
Siege's End 3GG
Sorcery (M)
Destroy all artifacts, enchantments, and creatures with defender.
"There is nothing that has been built that cannot be taken apart."
- Gallad, Siege Commander
Remove B
Instant (U)
Exile target creature. Lose 5 life.
?? 1GG
Planeswalker - ??
+2 Create a 1/1 Green Human Ranger creature token.
-1 Untap target creature or land.
-6 You get an emblem with "You may play any number of lands on each of your turns." and "Each land you play after the first one on each of your turns enters the battlefield tapped."
4
This way, it goes online turn 4 and the effects show turn 5. Better now, I think.
Anyway, your card... i don't think that destroying creatures with Defender is quite within Green's pie share. I'd make it 3RG. Destroying creatures with defender isn't quite within Red's either, but that feels more like a bend than anything.
Edit: ah. Remove. Pretty simple, a straightforward cost that makes it pretty uncastable later in the game - but that's fine. Very nice, no changes suggested.
Hmm. Card, card... Ah.
?? Ritual - R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast ?? Ritual, sacrifice a land.
Add three mana in any dombination of types that land could produce to your mana pool.
Shards of awful never