Yup, me doing one of these again, except this time it's quickfire.
Basically this thread is a freeform roleplaying adventure story based on custom cards.
But no inventories, no stats to keep track of, no maps (thank glob).
Basically, this is the game:
1) I tell part of the story, ending with "you" having a problem to deal with, possibly with design restrictions.
2) However many of you out there want to submit a card to solve the problem may do so. In character or out of character. Doesn't matter. (I will gladly judge after only one submission, if that's all there is when I check in.)
3) I give a quick summary judgment (no numbers involved) of how I think each card is in terms of design and flavor for solving the problem.
4) Whichever card I liked best (if there are more than one) will be the one used, and the story will continue.
That's it. Again, any persistent characters are up to you to handle. I'm just getting some creative writing, card judging, and occasional card design out of this, as, hopefully, are you.
Your Quest Begins
Your vision is blurry as you regain consciousness, woken by the persistent dripping of water onto your forehead. As you slowly collect yourself, you realize you are in a prison cell, and while you can't remember much and your head is throbbing, you have a strong sensation that you were not in here the last time you were conscious. Just outside the gate is a Orc Soldier guard. He faces away from you, but stands smartly beyond an arm's reach. There is also a barred window, too high up for you to climb to, and high enough up that all you can see through it is the overcast gray sky. How will you proceed?
Design restrictions:
You may only design COMMON spells with CMC 3 OR LESS.
Shadow StepU
Instant (C)
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn. "It's not a matter of not being seen. You have to be seen as something that nobody thinks twice about."
Reconnoiter U
Sorcery (C)
Name a card type, then reveal the top five cards of your library. Choose a card of the chosen type, put it into your hand, and then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Time spent thinking clearly is never wasted.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am GUR. I view the world around me with a sense of wonder and awe that only increases as I learn more about it. I quickly become bored if deprived of puzzles to solve or new things to learn. At my best, I am brilliant and inventive, at my worst, I am moody and erratic.
Ogonomany: This might be balanced at common but I'd be more comfortable at uncommon, just because of how powerful deathtouch is on defense. For flavor in the story, I'm not sure exactly how you're signaling those deathblades from in your cell, but its a very cool image/scene to imagine.
GG Crono: I suspect this should cost 1 more for the versatility factor but its not offensive at CMC-1 or anything. Good creative work on the card internally. Flavor makes pretty perfect sense here, even if its nothing too flashy.
Angry Bob: I think this might be too powerful for its rarity and cost. Five cards, especially in limited, is pretty far deep. Maybe if it revealed the cards so your opponent knew what you got it would be more balanced. Also, while your flavor text is compelling, in the context of an exciting fantasy game, it might be… wrong.
Winner: GG Crono
You become one with the shadows as you make your way along the unlit side of the wall, beyond the bars of your cell, and into the hallway. Being sure to never enter the rays of light that come through various barred windows, you slink through the dungeon that seems to only have been imprisoning you. You make your way to the top of a staircase and find an archway that leads to an impressively lit grand hall of some sort of castle or palace you do not recognize. At one end, you are able to see a female ruler of some kind, with a knight on either side. At the other end, the door that seems to lead out of this place.
Wherever you go, you will be stepping into the light and visible unless you take other precautions. Or you could have faith that your escape might just be… fine, and hope for the best in broad daylight.
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS:
CAN ONLY DESIGN RED AND/OR GREEN CARDS
I mean, there WAS a window they could see it from, but I guess you're right.
Anyway...
Mad Dash1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gains haste and can't be blocked except by creatures with haste until end of turn. "So close...almost...there..."
Ogonomany: Wait, this card is brilliant, how have they not printed this. That's all I have to say.
You make a mad dash for the door and manage to get out without anyone even noticing. You emerge and find yourself at the top of a very tall staircase, looking down at a sprawling town below. Suddenly, you hear a woman's frightened screams from below, but there are so many people and buildings, you can't figure out where the scream came from in time to get there, unless...
Glitch Charm UR
Instant
Choose one - Target creature gains haste until the end of turn, target creature can't be blocked this turn, or return target creature to its owner's hand. "I am not a smart man. But I am a brilliant cheater."
The idea being high mobility via exploits in space and time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am GUR. I view the world around me with a sense of wonder and awe that only increases as I learn more about it. I quickly become bored if deprived of puzzles to solve or new things to learn. At my best, I am brilliant and inventive, at my worst, I am moody and erratic.
Spiritual Projection1WU
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature can't attack or block.
When Spiritual Projection enters the battlefield, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target creature.
When Spiritual Projection leaves the battlefield, sacrifice all tokens put onto the battlefield with Spiritual Projection.
Kind of a clunky way to show himself going out of body to see through other people, but that's what I got.
Angry Bob: I feel like, just to be on par with the other modes, the haste one should come with a +1/+0 bump. Other than that, fun card. Flavorwise, it makes a lot of sense in itself. My one reservation is that the whole "glitch" idea evokes a much more techy-steampunk world than the one I feel like I'm building, but our hero has no identity, so for all I know, that's in his/her shtick.
Ogonomany: Yeah, this card's parts don't come together the way I think you want them to, and it's a weird trade-off. Probably overcosted considering how cheap you can get a clone these days. Also the clunkiness of the card carries over into its flavor in the game, unfortunately.
Winner: Angry Bob
You skitter around the city, bending spacetime to your will just enough to teleport block-to-block without charring an arm off. In a matter of seconds, you find what you're looking for, along with more shrieks of horror. Out of a sewer drain emerges a strange horror, seemingly made of pure shadow yet still manifesting in 3D in the air. What do we do?!
Shadow Wraith3B
Creature - Wraith Nightmare (U) BBB: Shadow Wraith gets +2/+2 and gains protection from black until end of turn.
2/2
Selenite Battlemage WU
Creature - Moonfolk Wizard Soldier
Flash, vigilance
When Selenite Battlemage enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
2/2
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am GUR. I view the world around me with a sense of wonder and awe that only increases as I learn more about it. I quickly become bored if deprived of puzzles to solve or new things to learn. At my best, I am brilliant and inventive, at my worst, I am moody and erratic.
Sword of Eternal Light4
Artifact - Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from black.
Whenever equipped creature attacks, you may sacrifice Sword of Eternal Light. If you do, exile all black creatures.
Equip 2
Whenever Auton blocks another creature, Auton's power is equal to that creature's toughness until end of turn. At all other times, Auton's power is 0.
defender, first strike
Nullform Doppelganger3UUU
Creature - Shapeshifter {R}
Flash
When Nullform Doppelganger enters the battlefield, counter target creature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
Nullform Doppelganger is a copy of the last creature card exiled with it. 2/4
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Angry Bob: This seems overpowered to me, albeit no rarity is given. Countering a spell and still getting an efficient creature at a reasonable cost for the creature alone is just too good in my opinion. Also, flavor-wise, this doesn't seem like a sure thing against that wraith.
Ogonomany: I would prefer that rather than "all black creatures" it were "target black permanent" so it could destroy Sorin and Liliana and stuff. I just tend not to go for color sweepers, especially in colorless. But flavor-wise it's on point.
schweinefett: Wording issues aside, this is an interesting design. Feels yugioh-y to me for some reason. My one flavor issue is that its not clear if you are being attacked by the wraith, so a creature with defender might not be your best bet.
Am Shegar: Well dang. That's a totally different route than I was expecting. It's a pretty cool card, though I'm not sure those are the colors to go anti-activated-ability with. Also, there's no guarantee the wraith would opt to use its ability.
LustLain: Oh man the flavor. It's unfortunately super narrow as a Magic card but its just oozing with flavor for this challenge.
Crocutrax: I like the flavor and imagery of this card, but it's just Arrest, but… worse.
RaikouRider: I don't know that its super clear if the wraith is being "cast" or just making an entrance from the sewers, where it already existed, so flavorfully I'm not sure this is a hit. But as a card design, it's pretty interesting. Seems like the appropriate cost.
alex1233etc.: I think this could cost 1W in the mana cost as well and still be balanced. It's a very interesting "seal" of sorts, and makes sense here. Good job!
Winner: alex123321123321
As the wraith takes full form and charges one of the women in the crowd, your white salty magic sends it reeling in pain before eventually dissolving it completely. Yeesh. While the crowd is generally horrified, it is also incredibly grateful.
You decide to descend into the sewers to investigate the origin of this foul creature. You make your way down the foul-smelling tube as far as the light from above can reach, before finding yourself in need of a new light source.
Luminescent Portabella 1G
Creature - Fungus {R}
Defender
Creatures with hexproof can be the targets of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
Sacrifice Luminescent Portabella: You gain 4 life.
0/3
Echolocation 1GG
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
When Echolocation enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted Creature can block as though attacking creatures had no abilities. "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a king. In the land of shadow, the man with the light is a target."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am GUR. I view the world around me with a sense of wonder and awe that only increases as I learn more about it. I quickly become bored if deprived of puzzles to solve or new things to learn. At my best, I am brilliant and inventive, at my worst, I am moody and erratic.
alex123321123321: Cool, yeah, I get what this is. A weird giant glowing mushroom thing that's so bright it gets the spotlight ability. What's not to like about that? And if you need to, you can eat it!
Angry Bob: Echolocation is what bats do, and bats are black, so this feels out-of-color, but I like the concept. Not sure on balance, and while I think I understand the full rules implications, I'm not sure. (This gets around lure, right?)
GG Crono: More glowing mushrooms! I think this could cost 1 less, and it suffers from being the less cool of two mushroom cards designed this round, so sadly, it cannot win.
Winner: alexnumbersnumbersnumbers again!
With a giant glowing shroom in hand, you make your way deeper down the sewers. You begin to hear the echoes of strange angry shouting. You follow the echoes around corner after corner until a new light source appears. Wanting to maintain stealth, you gulp down your mushroom before peering around the corner toward the light.
Deep in this sewer maze, you behold what can only be described as a lair, complete with a bed, shelves upon shelves of alchemical reagents and potions, a weapons rack, a mage's table, and, last but not least, a dark wizard pacing back and forth, screaming nonsense at the empty air. You attempt to turn back and figure out your next move, but accidentally step on a rat which squeals. All in the matter of a second or two, the dark mage turns against you, waves his hands, and recites an incantation.
Dark Consumption3BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature. If it's destroyed this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control with power greater than that creature's power.
Ritual of Flesh BG
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Flash
When Ritual of Flesh enters the battlefield, regenerate enchanted creature.
Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate enchanted creature. "Don't turn your back on an enemy until they're dead. And don't turn your back on me until my flesh is gone and my bones are dust." - Khayuum
I am GUR. I view the world around me with a sense of wonder and awe that only increases as I learn more about it. I quickly become bored if deprived of puzzles to solve or new things to learn. At my best, I am brilliant and inventive, at my worst, I am moody and erratic.
Basically this thread is a freeform roleplaying adventure story based on custom cards.
But no inventories, no stats to keep track of, no maps (thank glob).
Basically, this is the game:
1) I tell part of the story, ending with "you" having a problem to deal with, possibly with design restrictions.
2) However many of you out there want to submit a card to solve the problem may do so. In character or out of character. Doesn't matter. (I will gladly judge after only one submission, if that's all there is when I check in.)
3) I give a quick summary judgment (no numbers involved) of how I think each card is in terms of design and flavor for solving the problem.
4) Whichever card I liked best (if there are more than one) will be the one used, and the story will continue.
That's it. Again, any persistent characters are up to you to handle. I'm just getting some creative writing, card judging, and occasional card design out of this, as, hopefully, are you.
Your Quest Begins
Your vision is blurry as you regain consciousness, woken by the persistent dripping of water onto your forehead. As you slowly collect yourself, you realize you are in a prison cell, and while you can't remember much and your head is throbbing, you have a strong sensation that you were not in here the last time you were conscious. Just outside the gate is a Orc Soldier guard. He faces away from you, but stands smartly beyond an arm's reach. There is also a barred window, too high up for you to climb to, and high enough up that all you can see through it is the overcast gray sky. How will you proceed?
Design restrictions:
You may only design COMMON spells with CMC 3 OR LESS.
Signal of the Deathblades 2B
Sorcery (C)
Put two 1/1 black Assassin creature tokens with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
Never seen, always noticed.
Instant (C)
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn.
"It's not a matter of not being seen. You have to be seen as something that nobody thinks twice about."
Sorcery (C)
Name a card type, then reveal the top five cards of your library. Choose a card of the chosen type, put it into your hand, and then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
Time spent thinking clearly is never wasted.
GG Crono: I suspect this should cost 1 more for the versatility factor but its not offensive at CMC-1 or anything. Good creative work on the card internally. Flavor makes pretty perfect sense here, even if its nothing too flashy.
Angry Bob: I think this might be too powerful for its rarity and cost. Five cards, especially in limited, is pretty far deep. Maybe if it revealed the cards so your opponent knew what you got it would be more balanced. Also, while your flavor text is compelling, in the context of an exciting fantasy game, it might be… wrong.
Winner: GG Crono
You become one with the shadows as you make your way along the unlit side of the wall, beyond the bars of your cell, and into the hallway. Being sure to never enter the rays of light that come through various barred windows, you slink through the dungeon that seems to only have been imprisoning you. You make your way to the top of a staircase and find an archway that leads to an impressively lit grand hall of some sort of castle or palace you do not recognize. At one end, you are able to see a female ruler of some kind, with a knight on either side. At the other end, the door that seems to lead out of this place.
Wherever you go, you will be stepping into the light and visible unless you take other precautions. Or you could have faith that your escape might just be… fine, and hope for the best in broad daylight.
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS:
CAN ONLY DESIGN RED AND/OR GREEN CARDS
Anyway...
Mad Dash 1R
Instant (C)
Target creature gains haste and can't be blocked except by creatures with haste until end of turn.
"So close...almost...there..."
You make a mad dash for the door and manage to get out without anyone even noticing. You emerge and find yourself at the top of a very tall staircase, looking down at a sprawling town below. Suddenly, you hear a woman's frightened screams from below, but there are so many people and buildings, you can't figure out where the scream came from in time to get there, unless...
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS:
MUST BE MULTICOLORED
Instant
Choose one - Target creature gains haste until the end of turn, target creature can't be blocked this turn, or return target creature to its owner's hand.
"I am not a smart man. But I am a brilliant cheater."
The idea being high mobility via exploits in space and time.
Spiritual Projection 1WU
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature can't attack or block.
When Spiritual Projection enters the battlefield, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target creature.
When Spiritual Projection leaves the battlefield, sacrifice all tokens put onto the battlefield with Spiritual Projection.
Kind of a clunky way to show himself going out of body to see through other people, but that's what I got.
Ogonomany: Yeah, this card's parts don't come together the way I think you want them to, and it's a weird trade-off. Probably overcosted considering how cheap you can get a clone these days. Also the clunkiness of the card carries over into its flavor in the game, unfortunately.
Winner: Angry Bob
You skitter around the city, bending spacetime to your will just enough to teleport block-to-block without charring an arm off. In a matter of seconds, you find what you're looking for, along with more shrieks of horror. Out of a sewer drain emerges a strange horror, seemingly made of pure shadow yet still manifesting in 3D in the air. What do we do?!
Shadow Wraith 3B
Creature - Wraith Nightmare (U)
BBB: Shadow Wraith gets +2/+2 and gains protection from black until end of turn.
2/2
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS:
NO INSTANTS OR SORCERIES
Creature - Moonfolk Wizard Soldier
Flash, vigilance
When Selenite Battlemage enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
2/2
Sword of Eternal Light 4
Artifact - Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from black.
Whenever equipped creature attacks, you may sacrifice Sword of Eternal Light. If you do, exile all black creatures.
Equip 2
artifact creature - construct
Whenever Auton blocks another creature, Auton's power is equal to that creature's toughness until end of turn. At all other times, Auton's power is 0.
defender, first strike
0/1
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
Enchantment (R)
Whenever a creature's activated ability is activated, it gets -2/-2 until the end of turn.
Artifact (R)
When Dreamcatcher comes into play, exile all Nightmares until Dreamcatcher leaves the battlefield.
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant non-white creature
Enchanted creature cannot cannot attack, block or use abilities that aren't mana abilities.
Creature - Shapeshifter {R}
Flash
When Nullform Doppelganger enters the battlefield, counter target creature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
Nullform Doppelganger is a copy of the last creature card exiled with it.
2/4
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Enchantment {U}
Flash
1W, Sacrifice Pillar of salt: Destroy target attacking or blocking creature.
Ogonomany: I would prefer that rather than "all black creatures" it were "target black permanent" so it could destroy Sorin and Liliana and stuff. I just tend not to go for color sweepers, especially in colorless. But flavor-wise it's on point.
schweinefett: Wording issues aside, this is an interesting design. Feels yugioh-y to me for some reason. My one flavor issue is that its not clear if you are being attacked by the wraith, so a creature with defender might not be your best bet.
Am Shegar: Well dang. That's a totally different route than I was expecting. It's a pretty cool card, though I'm not sure those are the colors to go anti-activated-ability with. Also, there's no guarantee the wraith would opt to use its ability.
LustLain: Oh man the flavor. It's unfortunately super narrow as a Magic card but its just oozing with flavor for this challenge.
Crocutrax: I like the flavor and imagery of this card, but it's just Arrest, but… worse.
RaikouRider: I don't know that its super clear if the wraith is being "cast" or just making an entrance from the sewers, where it already existed, so flavorfully I'm not sure this is a hit. But as a card design, it's pretty interesting. Seems like the appropriate cost.
alex1233etc.: I think this could cost 1W in the mana cost as well and still be balanced. It's a very interesting "seal" of sorts, and makes sense here. Good job!
Winner: alex123321123321
As the wraith takes full form and charges one of the women in the crowd, your white salty magic sends it reeling in pain before eventually dissolving it completely. Yeesh. While the crowd is generally horrified, it is also incredibly grateful.
You decide to descend into the sewers to investigate the origin of this foul creature. You make your way down the foul-smelling tube as far as the light from above can reach, before finding yourself in need of a new light source.
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS:
MUST BE MONOGREEN
Creature - Fungus {R}
Defender
Creatures with hexproof can be the targets of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
Sacrifice Luminescent Portabella: You gain 4 life.
0/3
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
When Echolocation enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted Creature can block as though attacking creatures had no abilities.
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a king. In the land of shadow, the man with the light is a target."
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has hexproof, reach and vigilance.
"Oh, glowcap mushrooms have many miraculous properties. Quite tasty, too." -Queria, adept phytomancer
Angry Bob: Echolocation is what bats do, and bats are black, so this feels out-of-color, but I like the concept. Not sure on balance, and while I think I understand the full rules implications, I'm not sure. (This gets around lure, right?)
GG Crono: More glowing mushrooms! I think this could cost 1 less, and it suffers from being the less cool of two mushroom cards designed this round, so sadly, it cannot win.
Winner: alexnumbersnumbersnumbers again!
With a giant glowing shroom in hand, you make your way deeper down the sewers. You begin to hear the echoes of strange angry shouting. You follow the echoes around corner after corner until a new light source appears. Wanting to maintain stealth, you gulp down your mushroom before peering around the corner toward the light.
Deep in this sewer maze, you behold what can only be described as a lair, complete with a bed, shelves upon shelves of alchemical reagents and potions, a weapons rack, a mage's table, and, last but not least, a dark wizard pacing back and forth, screaming nonsense at the empty air. You attempt to turn back and figure out your next move, but accidentally step on a rat which squeals. All in the matter of a second or two, the dark mage turns against you, waves his hands, and recites an incantation.
Dark Consumption 3BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature. If it's destroyed this way, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control with power greater than that creature's power.
NO DESIGN RESTRICTIONS
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Flash
When Ritual of Flesh enters the battlefield, regenerate enchanted creature.
Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate enchanted creature.
"Don't turn your back on an enemy until they're dead. And don't turn your back on me until my flesh is gone and my bones are dust." - Khayuum
Instant {R}
Regenerate target creature. If a creature is regenerated this way, destroy all other creatures.