I think another important thing to decide on when putting something like this together is the power of colourless and multicoloured cards compared to the WUBRG section. When we play, powerful artifacts are generally snatched up in the first few picks, while people tend to shy away from taking early multicoloured cards. Obviously this makes sense, since artifacts can be played in any deck and multicolour cards are quite a bit less flexible.
Since you have complete control over the power level of this cube, it might be worthwhile to push the comparative power of multicolour cards. It may just be me, but I feel that having to make the choice between flexible, decent cards, and specific, powerful cards is an interesting dynamic.
I've been thinking a lot about multicolor, and I reached a lot of the same conclusions. It's one of the most fun things to design for, but it's also a bit difficult to design for. You've got a very good point.
I'm proud of this, which got a lot of positive feedback on the "Print This Wizards" thread:
Jilting Weird :2mana::symu::symr:
Creature - Weird
When Jilting Weird enters the battlefield, return target creature to its owner's hand and Jilting Weird deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
If all the multicolor cards are in a similar ballpark, it should work pretty well.
Quote from xfollowthereaperx »
Some cards that I enjoy.
Wild Pegasus -W Creature - Pegasus
Flying
Echo W (At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
2/1
I like this one a lot too, but due to the "Core" theme, I've avoided block mechanics so far. When the Cube nears being finished, if we have trouble fitting things in, I like the idea of choosing 3-4 block mechanics (Likely things like Kicker, Cycling, Evoke, and Scry) and filling the space with cool cards with those.
War Squad - W Creautre - Human Solider
Vigilance T: Target attacking creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
This is a great one. I meant to include this card already but it slipped through the cracks. I like how simply adding Vigilance makes Infantry Veteran into a cool, Cubeable card.
Kor Falconer - 1W Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Falconer enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
2/1
I like this but I think it might be a tad too good. This would be good enough as a 2W Sorcery with "Exile target creature", but the fact that it comes on a 2/2 body, is splashable, and can be recurred makes it seem too strong.
How do you feel about it at 1WW and/or "Exile CARDNAME: Exile target creature"? Sort of how Mangara of Corondor has symmetry with the exiling.
Was this inspired by the "Superhero" Alpha playtest card? I remember people discussing that in the thread.
Reverse Cataclysm - 2WW Sorcery
Each player sacrifices a permament of each type.
I like this a lot. I remember saving this on my list of cards to include but, like the Squad above, forgot to include it.
Magus of the Stasis - 1U Creature - Human Wizard
Players skip their untap steps.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Magus of the Stasis unless you pay U.
0/1
I'm not sure if Stasis makes the best Magus, but I love the idea of a cycle of Magi. I think Donald was one person who brainstormed about that on the "Print This" thread.
Here are some possible ones for each color:
White: Magus of the Tax?
Blue: Magus of the Workshop, Magus of the Standstill.
Black: Magus of the Nightmare?
Red: Magus of the Vortex (Already in), Magus of the Vise
Green: Magus of the other Library, Magus of the Ring!!!
Some of those would be a bit silly (and some have a bit too-awkward wording), but I would've never expected them to print Magus of the Fittest.
Vassal of Lim-Dul - B Creature - Human Wizard
Discard a card: Vassal of Lim-Dul gets -1/-0 until end of turn. Any player may activate this ability.
2/1
I like the Oona's Prowlerish ability on a one-drop. This is cool.
Blackout -1B Sorcery
Target player discards a card at random.
Rebound
I wish they had printed this. Did they even print a discard spell period with Rebound?
Doomed Student - 1B Creature - Wizard B, Sacrifice Doomed Student: Draw two cards and lose 3 life.
2/1
This is pretty cool, but why 3 life?
CARDNAME -BB Creature - Human Knight
First Strike, deathtouch
2/2
I put this same card on my short list of things to post (as a 2/1, though) but forgot to post it. I think this would probably even be somewhat usable at 1/1. I like the 2/1 cost the best but I'd like to include some variant of it.
How do you feel, by the way, about Black Knight of Meadowgrain? That's a white->black colorshift I thought could work well.
Bendable Lightning -1R Instant
Bendable Lightning deals 3 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
Bendable Lightning costs 1 more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Very cool.
Treefingers - G Enchantment - Aura
Enchanted creature is a forest.
From Kid A?
This is interesting. Kind of reminds me of Utopia Vow and perhaps some sort of templating like "enchanted creature can't attack or block, loses all abilities, and has T: G" could work if this doesn't.
[mana] Flourishing Growth - 1G Sorcery
Search your library for a land card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterward.
Rebound
[/mana]
Rebound is another possible mechanic to look out for for this Cube. I like this.
I think in an upcoming post, I'll post cards that are similar to each other in certain categories and see which people think is/are the best to include. Things like "Green removal" and "Red 2 or 3 drops that deal damage when they come into play."
Cursed Library Legendary Land T, Pay 1 life: add 1 to your mana pool. ,T: Cursed Library deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Play this ability only if you have exactly 1 card in hand.
Pretty interesting.
Wall of Endless Thoughts - 1U Creature - Illusion Wall
Cards in your hand have Cycling 2
1/3
I believe you designed this card.
Just so you know, this is the Cycling card that was so cool it made me think "Cycling would be good to have in this Cube." I'm not sure if I'm ready to delve into block mechanics yet, but if Cycling is in this'll be in.
Darkling Embalmer - 1B Creature - Shade Spirit
Sacrifice Darkling Embalmer: Search your library for a card and put that card into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library.
2/1
I like this.
Mystic Debate is actually worse than Cancel. I love the idea but it's not a good card.
That's a good point. It'll probably come out.
I feel that Storm Rider is way too good even if it doesn't destroy an artifact.
He is a bit crazy. I guess "artifact or nonbasic land" doesn't really solve the problem either, does it?
Should we drop him, you think?
I do not think that Viashino Looter is good enough for the cube. It isn't want red likes.
Fair enough. I'd like to see Red looting in action, though! Maybe a more aggro card that loots when it attacks or something.
I'll comment on the rest of the recent posts (like colormage1's black aggro creatures that have me excited) later today.
Proposed changes for now:
Add Jilting Weird
Add War Squad
Add Reverse Cataclysm
Add Vassal of Lim-Dul
Add Darkling Embalmer
Drop Mystic Debate
How's this? Most of the others will probably be in as well, or at least be in after some discussion/tweaking.
Storm Rider is a type of card a cube needs, LD with legs. I just think the artifact destruction is too good.
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land.
2/2
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land with non-mana abilities or destroy target artifact with mana abilities.
2/2
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land with non-mana abilities or destroy target artifact with mana abilities.
2/2
this is a neat idea but i don't know if i would play it. it's not mana denial unless they happen to have a man land or mana artifact. i'd rather have te reliable mana denial of the first option.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
After thinking about it Storm Rider could be played as originally posted, but know that it is super over the curve.
I really enjoy Echo as a core staple, also shows one of my favorite designs posted:
Rhox Purifier - :3mana::symw: Creature - Rhino Cleric Soldier
Echo :xmana::symw:
When you pay Rhox Purifier's echo cost, you may destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to :xmana:.
4/4
I like cards that have clever new drawbacks. Another good one.
BlackCreature BB
Creature - Zombie
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Target player discards a card.
2/2
I like this too.
BlackCreature 1B
Creature - Zombie
Intimidate
2/1
This is simple but I love it! This is a definite add; it's perfect for this project.
Dark Confidant, Graveborn Muse, hmmm...
Black Removal 1 1BB
Instant
Destroy target creature.
The first two kill spells I thought to include are Doom Blade and "destroy target nongreen creature," (which fascinates me for some reason) but if there's room this can probably fit in too.
Speaking of which... xfollowthereaperx says that 5 creature removal effects is good for White, but how many is good for Black? I remember in my real Cube I felt like I had too many in Black for a while.
Black Removal 2 1BBSorcery
Destroy target creature or land. Lose 3 life.
This is cooler. Very Black, and I like seeing Black LD. All of these were great, colormage1. I think I will include most of these right off the bat.
Quote from MrDumpkins »
Blue High Mage :1mana::symu:
Creature - Human Wizard
When ~ enters the battlefield, draw a card
When ~ leaves the battlefield, draw a card
1/1
This is pretty cool too. Lots of fun with bounce and very good on its own.
CARDNAME - :2mana::symu: Sorcery
Return target artifact from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
I like this. Very clean, and could end up being a high pick if there are lots of cool artifacts. Should Blue have 1-2 colored artifact bomb creatures akin to Inkwell Leviathan?
This also reminds me of another card I had in mind:
Undersea Explorer 1U
Creature - Merfolk Rogue
Islandwalk U, T: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
EDIT: the more I think about this, it seems like it could be too good. Originally my thought was "Sacrifice CARDNAME" instead of the "U, T" It might work well as a one-shot ETB ability too.
Storm Rider is a type of card a cube needs, LD with legs. I just think the artifact destruction is too good.
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land.
2/2
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land with non-mana abilities or destroy target artifact with mana abilities.
2/2
I like the first of these two a lot as it's far more elegant. I think it's perfectly printable, perhaps even at 3R, because it's an Avalanche Riders without Haste but without Echo.
Another possibility is to leave it 2RR and still allow it to destroy artifacts OR lands, but make it damage you by 2 when it comes into play or something.
This is interesting. Is it too good? Not too good, it's fair.
I like cards that have clever new drawbacks. Another good one. I feel this one is too powerful or not powerful enough. Keep it in mind though.
I like this too. I like it too. Double black doesn't seem to be needed. Maybe 1B for a 2/1?
This is simple but I love it! This is a definite add; it's perfect for this project.
The first two kill spells I thought to include are Doom Blade and "destroy target nongreen creature," (which fascinates me for some reason) but if there's room this can probably fit in too.
Speaking of which... xfollowthereaperx says that 5 creature removal effects is good for White, but how many is good for Black? I remember in my real Cube I felt like I had too many in Black for a while. I feel that black gets more than white in my cube, but rarely gets a 1cmc unlike white.
This is cooler. Very Black, and I like seeing Black LD. All of these were great, colormage1. I think I will include most of these right off the bat. I love this one!
This is pretty cool too. Lots of fun with bounce and very good on its own. I feel that it might be really broken with bounce. Testing needed. If it is, make it cantrip on the way to the grave instead of leaving battlefield.
I like this. Very clean, and could end up being a high pick if there are lots of cool artifacts. Should Blue have 1-2 colored artifact bomb creatures akin to Inkwell Leviathan? I love it, and yes. We need bomby artifacts. If this project finishes I plan on combining it with my cube every once and a while.
This also reminds me of another card I had in mind:
Undersea Explorer 1U
Creature - Merfolk Rogue
Islandwalk U, T: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
I like this card a lot. Doesn't need islandwalk or the extra 1 power, just the ability alone is good.
EDIT: the more I think about this, it seems like it could be too good. Originally my thought was "Sacrifice CARDNAME" instead of the "U, T"
I think the sacrifice version is awesome too.
I like the first of these two a lot as it's far more elegant. I think it's perfectly printable, perhaps even at 3R, because it's an Avalanche Riders without Haste but without Echo.
Another possibility is to leave it 2RR and still allow it to destroy artifacts OR lands, but make it damage you by 2 when it comes into play or something.
The original version is probably fine. Know that it is very powerful.
Bold are my edits.
I feel that Echo should be in the core set instead of evoke as it would include one of my favorite creatures:
Rhox Purifier -3W Creature - Rhino Cleric Soldier
Echo XW
When you pay Rhox Purifier's echo cost, you may destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to X.
4/4
And here is a take on Recurring Nightmare in white that looks like fun.
Recurring Flicker -2W Enchantment
When ~ ETB exile target creature you control.
Return ~ to its owners hand: Return the creature exiled with ~ to the battlefield, under its owner's control. "Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
....Undersea Explorer is a really cool cycle:
CARDNAME -1W Creature - Human Soilder
Vigilance, plainswalk
Sacrifice cardname: Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2
CARDNAME -1R Creature - Human Rogue
Mountainwalk
Sacrifice cardname: Return target instant card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
I really enjoy Echo as a core staple, also shows one of my favorite designs posted:
Rhox Purifier - :3mana::symw: Creature - Rhino Cleric Soldier
Echo :xmana::symw:
When you pay Rhox Purifier's echo cost, you may destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to :xmana:.
4/4
Glad you enjoy it! Is this card still considered to be too good for a white creature? When I posted it, most people thought it had to cost 2WW or be a 3/4.
Glad you enjoy it! Is this card still considered to be too good for a white creature? When I posted it, most people thought it had to cost 2WW or be a 3/4.
I think I was the only one who thought that. White doesn't usually get 4/4s for four mana that can destroy almost anything.
Glad you enjoy it! Is this card still considered to be too good for a white creature? When I posted it, most people thought it had to cost 2WW or be a 3/4.
2WW actually is where I think it should be. Here is a black version that was toggling in my mind on my way to school. I am finally getting over my small fever
Parasitic Horde -2BB Creature - Horror
At the beginning of your upkeep you lose life equal to the number of insects you control.
Echo XB
When you pay Parasitic Horde's echo cost, you may put X 1/1 black Insects with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
3/4
So I looked at Storm Rider. I think he'd work with the following ability: "When ~ enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact." It gives most of what you wanted, without getting rid of much of the versatility.
CARDNAME -1R Creature - Human Rogue
Mountainwalk
Sacrifice cardname: Return target instant card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
this would be sorcery, wouldn't it? and blue would get instant. see scrivener/anarchist, cunning wish/burning wish, cognivore/magnivore, mystical teachings, recoup, nucklavee. both can get "instant or sorcery," and there's a few odd cards that break the pattern. but the vast majority of cards that focus only on one spell type split up this way, red getting sorcery and blue getting instant. especially in cycles.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
this would be sorcery, wouldn't it? and blue would get instant. see scrivener/anarchist, cunning wish/burning wish, cognivore/magnivore, mystical teachings, recoup, nucklavee. both can get "instant or sorcery," and there's a few odd cards that break the pattern. but the vast majority of cards that focus only on one spell type split up this way, red getting sorcery and blue getting instant. especially in cycles.
Oh man, you're correct. I thought it was the other way around for some reason. Sorcery is much much more fun anyways!
So I looked at Storm Rider. I think he'd work with the following ability: "When ~ enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact." It gives most of what you wanted, without getting rid of much of the versatility.
Some cards from the last couple pages I think we should add to the Cube. Let me know what you think about some of the tweaks.
Recurring Flicker 2W
Enchantment
When Recurring Flicker enters the battlefield, exile target creature you control.
Return Recurring Flicker to its owners hand: Return the creature exiled with Recurring Flicker to the battlefield under its owner's control. "Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
This is a great build-around card. I also like that it feels very White since "bounce your own stuff" has been in White's pie lately.
CARDNAME 2U
Sorcery
Return target artifact from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
This is exactly the kind of card that fits this Cube. I'm excited about it, and it will be even cooler once we know what our artifacts will be doing. Needs a name though.
CARDNAME BB
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, deathtouch
2/1
I think this makes more sense as a 2/1 than a 2/2 but it's still really powerful.
Black Removal 2 1BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature or land. You lose 3 life.
I think most of Black's removals should be "nonblack creature", but that it should have one instance of "nongreen creature" and maybe 1-2 instances of "destroy target creature."
I like the idea of giving Black spells a "You lose life" rider. It would be cool to give Black, say, a Time Warp or Regrowth with life loss or something.
Storm Rider 2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact.
2/2
Is this the wording we like best, or should we try one of the others? There's possibly room for two similar variants.
EDIT: I forgot about the Undersea Explorer (and cycle), but after we figure them out exactly those would be cool too.
Recurring Flicker 2W
Enchantment
When Recurring Flicker enters the battlefield, exile target creature you control.
Return Recurring Flicker to its owners hand: Return the creature exiled with Recurring Flicker to the battlefield under its owner's control. "Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
I love this one! It combines two of my favorite enchantments of all time: Recurring Nightmare and Astral Slide (which sadly isn't cubable, due to having almost no cycling cards in a regular cube).
That's completely broken! Have you forgotten 1 in the mana cost? Sure, it seems fine against a deck with early creatures, but it crushes any deck with no one and two drops (control)! This one may be ok as a 2/2.
Are you aware that this is a strictly better (in both cost and effect) Argivian Restoration?
i'm pretty comfortable with that, myself. restoration is similar to zombify except it targets a much rarer permanent type, and zombify isn't pushing the power level. i think 2U is a perfectly acceptable cost for that effect.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I enjoy all of those cards very very very much sans Doom Blade and "Zombie 2". I dislike the idea of reprints in a set that I know there are enough variations able to be made. I think we can shake one more "target player sacrifices a creature" out of black. Zombie 2 is awkward and dies to any creature that has at least one toughness. Maybe we can tweak that card around.
Undersea Explorer cycle excites me too. The blue one should not appear if the "Artifact Zombify" gets in, but either card excites me. They do feel like they can be in very different decks too. I do feel that the green one cannot be "sac for creature" (due to being broken/annoying in formats with 4 of) but instead has to be a "reverse Cartographer" (sac for land). Of course a green one is not required.
Recurring Flicker excites me a ton because sometimes I just want my Recurring Nightmare to give one of my creatures vigilance (specifically Blastoderm but sadly this card cannot).
We should name the cards BabyBlue posted asap. I am not too creative but here is a suggestion:
Thrull Remorser - 1B Creature - Thrull
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Target player discards a card.
2/1
I do think Thrulls would be hard to find art for though...
I really enjoy Skull Fracture, here is a version I think would be better:
Mind Shriek -B Sorcery
Target player discards a card at random.
Flashback 3BB
I love this one! It combines two of my favorite enchantments of all time: Recurring Nightmare and Astral Slide (which sadly isn't cubable, due to having almost no cycling cards in a regular cube).
Yeah, I think that one will be a lot of fun to play. I believe DerBK designed it but I may be remembering wrong.
Are you aware that this is a strictly better (in both cost and effect) Argivian Restoration?
As others have said, this Cube can (and probably will) obsolete some real cards. I feel this is okay since it's in a world of its own in a sense.
I was going to point to Gravedigger+ as an example (A Gravedigger for 2B), but I realized it wasn't even in this Cube yet!
So... I'll point to Pyretic Ritual+ instead.
That's completely broken! Have you forgotten 1 in the mana cost? Sure, it seems fine against a deck with early creatures, but it crushes any deck with no one and two drops (control)! This one may be ok as a 2/2.
Yeah, I wasn't so sure about that one, I was just intriuged by its unique downside. We'll figure out some way to tweak it.
Change:
- Storm Rider (though as xfollowthereaperx pointed out, we might be able to "get away with" the "artifact or land" wording. I suppose it depends on its context in the Cube, which we'll figure out later)
In the Cube List all of the cards with parentheses, and some without, need names.
Here are some a friend and I talked about:
Pro-Bear -> a monk of some sort?
(Green Pillage) -> "Crushing Vines"
(Black Removal 2) -> "Rain of Blood" / "Blood Rain"
(Card-Draw Beast) -> Domesticated Wumpus (my joke suggestion was "The Bumpuses' Wumpus" :p)
I know of your "core" restriction but I'd love to see this one:
Super Daze Spike - 0 Instant
~ is blue
Multikicker U, or return an island you control to its owner hand.
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 for each time ~ was kicked.
A tutor:
Confidant Tutor - 1B Instant
Search your library for a card, reveal it, lose an ammount of life equal to its converted casting cost then put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
And a land cycle:
White Mine Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add W. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield put 3 white 1/1 soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Blue Mine Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add U. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield draw 3 cards then discard two cards.
Black Mine Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add W. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield you may look at target player's hand chose a card from it and have that player discard it.
Red Mine Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add R. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield destroy target land.
Green Mine Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add G. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield put a 3/3 green elephant creature token onto the battlefield.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
White
Bannish: The 3 white cost on this seems really harsh. I expect a ton out of my CCC spells (something like cryptic command) and I don't think this delivers.
Pro-Bear: I know they did this with voice of all. But I don't like cards that make you remember what color you named three turns later.
Blue
COunterstifle: A friend and I were just alking about how this exact card should exist.
Inspiration+ should be called Inception.
Black
Lifegorger looks good, might be a bit too good. I don't know. Needs to be playtested to not accidently make a mono black psychatog.
Death Knight: I don't like first strike + deathtouch. It really just stops all combat. Maybe add a 1 life upkeep?
No vampiric Tutor version of the Creature-tutor cycle?
Red
Ghostlit Volley is cool. Possibly add the colorless clause that the one from timespiral had?
I think Fury Knight would be better as a RW multicolor card. I used Cedron Yerling for along time because I wanted a 2 drop 2/2 haste creature in RW. This fits the bill perfectly for that roll.
Goblin of the Sixth Pride: I've always thought that Blade of the Sixth Pride is a bit lackluster for cube. Is there any minor ability you could add to this guy to "french vanilla" him a bit?
Green
Suck it Up seems a little lackluster. Possibly add 1 colorless and make it cantrip? Green does get to draw cards.
I don't like Elvish Shaman's intrisic ability to tap for 1 colorless. Its more streamlined without it. And it creates more interesting gamestates without it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
That's the remarkable thing about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse
Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Those mines are really cool. I do think that the tokens they produce are boring. The black and red ones are brilliant, they should be promptly named and placed into this cube. May need rewording so that it doesn't break inside of Pox, not that it is a huge deal. Black should be Duress.
I like all of those name suggestions Blue, sans Domesticated Wumpus. I may spit some names later but nothing now. Tired.
Bannish: The 3 white cost on this seems really harsh. I expect a ton out of my CCC spells (something like cryptic command) and I don't think this delivers.
That's a fair point, but it feels like the kind of card we'd need to test.
Pro-Bear: I know they did this with voice of all. But I don't like cards that make you remember what color you named three turns later.
While this is true, and would be something that could kill the card if it was, say, an uncommon in an actual set, for the purposes of Cube it should be okay. If we're playing online, you can put words on the cards, and in person you can use... I dunno, colored scraps of paper.
COunterstifle: A friend and I were just alking about how this exact card should exist.
I think bondafong designed this, and I like it a lot. We need a good name for it though.
Inspiration+ should be called Inception.
I've never seen the movie (I'm not much of a movie guy), but my sister speaks fondly of it and this made me chuckle.
Lifegorger looks good, might be a bit too good. I don't know. Needs to be playtested to not accidently make a mono black psychatog.
Yeah, moreso than many of the other cards this one is a 'test it!' for sure, hehe.
Death Knight: I don't like first strike + deathtouch. It really just stops all combat. Maybe add a 1 life upkeep?
I love the idea of a life upkeep, actually. It might be able to get away with being a 2/2 with one, but I'm not sure.
No vampiric Tutor version of the Creature-tutor cycle?
Ask xfollowthereaperx this, not me! I thought the same thing!
Ghostlit Volley is cool. Possibly add the colorless clause that the one from timespiral had?
Great idea!
I think Fury Knight would be better as a RW multicolor card. I used Cedron Yerling for along time because I wanted a 2 drop 2/2 haste creature in RW. This fits the bill perfectly for that roll.
I think I'll leave it as mono-Red for now, but when the Cube has made a lot more progress, it's very possible that it could get shifted to Multicolor depending on how the designs and slots work out.
Goblin of the Sixth Pride: I've always thought that Blade of the Sixth Pride is a bit lackluster for cube. Is there any minor ability you could add to this guy to "french vanilla" him a bit?
I'd suggest "Target creature can't block this turn", making him an upgrade to Goblin Shortcutter if I had to name something. But Red's efficient creatures almost always have downsides, so giving it a groundbreaking-for-Red body AND an upgrade is perhaps going a bit too far in terms of Red's design philosophy.
Suck it Up seems a little lackluster. Possibly add 1 colorless and make it cantrip? Green does get to draw cards.
It could also be a possible hybrid card (effectively making it Reknit+), but I'm not really sure what to do with this card at all. It's kind of on the chopping block, except that nothing desperately needs to be "chopped" yet since the Cube is so incomplete.
I don't like Elvish Shaman's intrisic ability to tap for 1 colorless. Its more streamlined without it. And it creates more interesting gamestates without it.
Without it, it's a worse Arbor Elf. Also, I don't mind pushing Green's mana elves, especially with the still-powerful-but-not-as-powerful-now incarnations of the manastones.
...I've even thought about Magus of the Ring. *gulp*
In other news... I'll try to make some sort of To-do list of the biggest tasks at the moment.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
they already made him. i honestly don't think it would be too strong to print
magus of the ring - G
creature - elf shaman T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
1/1
Probably not printable but defiantly not even close to the power of Sol Ring. I think it's a perfect fit into this set. If we keep the "Arbor Elf 2" then we just need one more that produces more than just green. "Arbor Elf 2" could be a reflecting pool elf.
I've been thinking a lot about multicolor, and I reached a lot of the same conclusions. It's one of the most fun things to design for, but it's also a bit difficult to design for. You've got a very good point.
I'm proud of this, which got a lot of positive feedback on the "Print This Wizards" thread:
Jilting Weird
:2mana::symu::symr:
Creature - Weird
When Jilting Weird enters the battlefield, return target creature to its owner's hand and Jilting Weird deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
If all the multicolor cards are in a similar ballpark, it should work pretty well.
I like this one a lot too, but due to the "Core" theme, I've avoided block mechanics so far. When the Cube nears being finished, if we have trouble fitting things in, I like the idea of choosing 3-4 block mechanics (Likely things like Kicker, Cycling, Evoke, and Scry) and filling the space with cool cards with those.
This is a great one. I meant to include this card already but it slipped through the cracks. I like how simply adding Vigilance makes Infantry Veteran into a cool, Cubeable card.
This one was already in.
I like this but I think it might be a tad too good. This would be good enough as a 2W Sorcery with "Exile target creature", but the fact that it comes on a 2/2 body, is splashable, and can be recurred makes it seem too strong.
How do you feel about it at 1WW and/or "Exile CARDNAME: Exile target creature"? Sort of how Mangara of Corondor has symmetry with the exiling.
Was this inspired by the "Superhero" Alpha playtest card? I remember people discussing that in the thread.
I like this a lot. I remember saving this on my list of cards to include but, like the Squad above, forgot to include it.
I'm not sure if Stasis makes the best Magus, but I love the idea of a cycle of Magi. I think Donald was one person who brainstormed about that on the "Print This" thread.
Here are some possible ones for each color:
White: Magus of the Tax?
Blue: Magus of the Workshop, Magus of the Standstill.
Black: Magus of the Nightmare?
Red: Magus of the Vortex (Already in), Magus of the Vise
Green: Magus of the other Library, Magus of the Ring!!!
Some of those would be a bit silly (and some have a bit too-awkward wording), but I would've never expected them to print Magus of the Fittest.
I like the Oona's Prowlerish ability on a one-drop. This is cool.
I wish they had printed this. Did they even print a discard spell period with Rebound?
This is pretty cool, but why 3 life?
I put this same card on my short list of things to post (as a 2/1, though) but forgot to post it. I think this would probably even be somewhat usable at 1/1. I like the 2/1 cost the best but I'd like to include some variant of it.
How do you feel, by the way, about Black Knight of Meadowgrain? That's a white->black colorshift I thought could work well.
Very cool.
From Kid A?
This is interesting. Kind of reminds me of Utopia Vow and perhaps some sort of templating like "enchanted creature can't attack or block, loses all abilities, and has T: G" could work if this doesn't.
[mana]
Flourishing Growth - 1G
Sorcery
Search your library for a land card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterward.
Rebound
[/mana]
Rebound is another possible mechanic to look out for for this Cube. I like this.
One of my favorite Desert Twister/Creeping Mold variants so far. One I thought of was green Saltblast.
I think in an upcoming post, I'll post cards that are similar to each other in certain categories and see which people think is/are the best to include. Things like "Green removal" and "Red 2 or 3 drops that deal damage when they come into play."
Pretty interesting.
I believe you designed this card.
Just so you know, this is the Cycling card that was so cool it made me think "Cycling would be good to have in this Cube." I'm not sure if I'm ready to delve into block mechanics yet, but if Cycling is in this'll be in.
I like this.
That's a good point. It'll probably come out.
He is a bit crazy. I guess "artifact or nonbasic land" doesn't really solve the problem either, does it?
Should we drop him, you think?
Fair enough. I'd like to see Red looting in action, though! Maybe a more aggro card that loots when it attacks or something.
I'll comment on the rest of the recent posts (like colormage1's black aggro creatures that have me excited) later today.
Proposed changes for now:
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land.
2/2
Storm Rider 2 - 2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield destroy target land with non-mana abilities or destroy target artifact with mana abilities.
2/2
this is a neat idea but i don't know if i would play it. it's not mana denial unless they happen to have a man land or mana artifact. i'd rather have te reliable mana denial of the first option.
I really enjoy Echo as a core staple, also shows one of my favorite designs posted:
Rhox Purifier - :3mana::symw:
Creature - Rhino Cleric Soldier
Echo :xmana::symw:
When you pay Rhox Purifier's echo cost, you may destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to :xmana:.
4/4
This is interesting. Is it too good?
I like cards that have clever new drawbacks. Another good one.
I like this too.
This is simple but I love it! This is a definite add; it's perfect for this project.
The first two kill spells I thought to include are Doom Blade and "destroy target nongreen creature," (which fascinates me for some reason) but if there's room this can probably fit in too.
Speaking of which... xfollowthereaperx says that 5 creature removal effects is good for White, but how many is good for Black? I remember in my real Cube I felt like I had too many in Black for a while.
This is cooler. Very Black, and I like seeing Black LD. All of these were great, colormage1. I think I will include most of these right off the bat.
This is pretty cool too. Lots of fun with bounce and very good on its own.
I like this. Very clean, and could end up being a high pick if there are lots of cool artifacts. Should Blue have 1-2 colored artifact bomb creatures akin to Inkwell Leviathan?
This also reminds me of another card I had in mind:
Undersea Explorer
1U
Creature - Merfolk Rogue
Islandwalk
U, T: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
EDIT: the more I think about this, it seems like it could be too good. Originally my thought was "Sacrifice CARDNAME" instead of the "U, T" It might work well as a one-shot ETB ability too.
I like the first of these two a lot as it's far more elegant. I think it's perfectly printable, perhaps even at 3R, because it's an Avalanche Riders without Haste but without Echo.
Another possibility is to leave it 2RR and still allow it to destroy artifacts OR lands, but make it damage you by 2 when it comes into play or something.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Bold are my edits.
I feel that Echo should be in the core set instead of evoke as it would include one of my favorite creatures:
Rhox Purifier - 3W
Creature - Rhino Cleric Soldier
Echo XW
When you pay Rhox Purifier's echo cost, you may destroy target nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to X.
4/4
And here is a take on Recurring Nightmare in white that looks like fun.
Recurring Flicker - 2W
Enchantment
When ~ ETB exile target creature you control.
Return ~ to its owners hand: Return the creature exiled with ~ to the battlefield, under its owner's control.
"Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
....Undersea Explorer is a really cool cycle:
CARDNAME - 1W
Creature - Human Soilder
Vigilance, plainswalk
Sacrifice cardname: Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2
CARDNAME - 1R
Creature - Human Rogue
Mountainwalk
Sacrifice cardname: Return target instant card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/1
Glad you enjoy it! Is this card still considered to be too good for a white creature? When I posted it, most people thought it had to cost 2WW or be a 3/4.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
I think I was the only one who thought that. White doesn't usually get 4/4s for four mana that can destroy almost anything.
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2WW actually is where I think it should be. Here is a black version that was toggling in my mind on my way to school. I am finally getting over my small fever
Parasitic Horde - 2BB
Creature - Horror
At the beginning of your upkeep you lose life equal to the number of insects you control.
Echo XB
When you pay Parasitic Horde's echo cost, you may put X 1/1 black Insects with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
3/4
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this would be sorcery, wouldn't it? and blue would get instant. see scrivener/anarchist, cunning wish/burning wish, cognivore/magnivore, mystical teachings, recoup, nucklavee. both can get "instant or sorcery," and there's a few odd cards that break the pattern. but the vast majority of cards that focus only on one spell type split up this way, red getting sorcery and blue getting instant. especially in cycles.
Oh man, you're correct. I thought it was the other way around for some reason. Sorcery is much much more fun anyways!
That's perfect.
Recurring Flicker
2W
Enchantment
When Recurring Flicker enters the battlefield, exile target creature you control.
Return Recurring Flicker to its owners hand: Return the creature exiled with Recurring Flicker to the battlefield under its owner's control.
"Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
This is a great build-around card. I also like that it feels very White since "bounce your own stuff" has been in White's pie lately.
CARDNAME
2U
Sorcery
Return target artifact from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
This is exactly the kind of card that fits this Cube. I'm excited about it, and it will be even cooler once we know what our artifacts will be doing. Needs a name though.
CARDNAME
BB
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, deathtouch
2/1
I think this makes more sense as a 2/1 than a 2/2 but it's still really powerful.
Zombie 2
B
Creature - Zombie
Whenever CARDNAME becomes blocked, sacrifice CARDNAME.
3/2
BlackCreature
1B
Creature - Zombie
Intimidate
2/1
BlackCreature
1B
Creature - Zombie
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Target player discards a card.
2/1
The third was changed from BB to 1B and from 2/2 to 2/1 for now. These need names (and maybe not all should be Zombies).
Doom Blade
1B
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Nongreen Blade
1B
Instant
Destroy target nongreen creature.
Black Removal 2
1BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature or land. You lose 3 life.
I think most of Black's removals should be "nonblack creature", but that it should have one instance of "nongreen creature" and maybe 1-2 instances of "destroy target creature."
I like the idea of giving Black spells a "You lose life" rider. It would be cool to give Black, say, a Time Warp or Regrowth with life loss or something.
Storm Rider
2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact.
2/2
Is this the wording we like best, or should we try one of the others? There's possibly room for two similar variants.
EDIT: I forgot about the Undersea Explorer (and cycle), but after we figure them out exactly those would be cool too.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
I love this one! It combines two of my favorite enchantments of all time: Recurring Nightmare and Astral Slide (which sadly isn't cubable, due to having almost no cycling cards in a regular cube).
Are you aware that this is a strictly better (in both cost and effect) Argivian Restoration?
That's completely broken! Have you forgotten 1 in the mana cost? Sure, it seems fine against a deck with early creatures, but it crushes any deck with no one and two drops (control)! This one may be ok as a 2/2.
I do like most of the other cards.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
i'm pretty comfortable with that, myself. restoration is similar to zombify except it targets a much rarer permanent type, and zombify isn't pushing the power level. i think 2U is a perfectly acceptable cost for that effect.
Undersea Explorer cycle excites me too. The blue one should not appear if the "Artifact Zombify" gets in, but either card excites me. They do feel like they can be in very different decks too. I do feel that the green one cannot be "sac for creature" (due to being broken/annoying in formats with 4 of) but instead has to be a "reverse Cartographer" (sac for land). Of course a green one is not required.
Recurring Flicker excites me a ton because sometimes I just want my Recurring Nightmare to give one of my creatures vigilance (specifically Blastoderm but sadly this card cannot).
We should name the cards BabyBlue posted asap. I am not too creative but here is a suggestion:
Thrull Remorser - 1B
Creature - Thrull
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Target player discards a card.
2/1
I do think Thrulls would be hard to find art for though...
I really enjoy Skull Fracture, here is a version I think would be better:
Mind Shriek - B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card at random.
Flashback 3BB
As others have said, this Cube can (and probably will) obsolete some real cards. I feel this is okay since it's in a world of its own in a sense.
I was going to point to Gravedigger+ as an example (A Gravedigger for 2B), but I realized it wasn't even in this Cube yet!
So... I'll point to Pyretic Ritual+ instead.
Yeah, I wasn't so sure about that one, I was just intriuged by its unique downside. We'll figure out some way to tweak it.
Here are some additions we recently talked about:
- Recurring Flicker
- "Reconstruct" (Artifact Zombify?)
- Thrull Remorser (2/1 sac: discard)
- "Death Knight" (2/1 FS DT knight)
- Nongreen Blade
- Black Removal 2
- 2/1 Intimidate Zombie
Change:
- Storm Rider (though as xfollowthereaperx pointed out, we might be able to "get away with" the "artifact or land" wording. I suppose it depends on its context in the Cube, which we'll figure out later)
In the Cube List all of the cards with parentheses, and some without, need names.
Here are some a friend and I talked about:
Pro-Bear -> a monk of some sort?
(Green Pillage) -> "Crushing Vines"
(Black Removal 2) -> "Rain of Blood" / "Blood Rain"
(Card-Draw Beast) -> Domesticated Wumpus (my joke suggestion was "The Bumpuses' Wumpus" :p)
Let me know if you have any ideas.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Super Daze Spike - 0
Instant
~ is blue
Multikicker U, or return an island you control to its owner hand.
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 for each time ~ was kicked.
A tutor:
Confidant Tutor - 1B
Instant
Search your library for a card, reveal it, lose an ammount of life equal to its converted casting cost then put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
And a land cycle:
White Mine
Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add W. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield put 3 white 1/1 soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Blue Mine
Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add U. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield draw 3 cards then discard two cards.
Black Mine
Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add W. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield you may look at target player's hand chose a card from it and have that player discard it.
Red Mine
Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add R. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield destroy target land.
Green Mine
Land
~ enters the battlefield with 3 mining counters
T, Remove a mining counter: Add G. If there are no mining counters sacrifice ~.
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield put a 3/3 green elephant creature token onto the battlefield.
Draft my cube!
Watch me stream!
White
Bannish: The 3 white cost on this seems really harsh. I expect a ton out of my CCC spells (something like cryptic command) and I don't think this delivers.
Pro-Bear: I know they did this with voice of all. But I don't like cards that make you remember what color you named three turns later.
Blue
COunterstifle: A friend and I were just alking about how this exact card should exist.
Inspiration+ should be called Inception.
Black
Lifegorger looks good, might be a bit too good. I don't know. Needs to be playtested to not accidently make a mono black psychatog.
Death Knight: I don't like first strike + deathtouch. It really just stops all combat. Maybe add a 1 life upkeep?
No vampiric Tutor version of the Creature-tutor cycle?
Red
Ghostlit Volley is cool. Possibly add the colorless clause that the one from timespiral had?
I think Fury Knight would be better as a RW multicolor card. I used Cedron Yerling for along time because I wanted a 2 drop 2/2 haste creature in RW. This fits the bill perfectly for that roll.
Goblin of the Sixth Pride: I've always thought that Blade of the Sixth Pride is a bit lackluster for cube. Is there any minor ability you could add to this guy to "french vanilla" him a bit?
Green
Suck it Up seems a little lackluster. Possibly add 1 colorless and make it cantrip? Green does get to draw cards.
I don't like Elvish Shaman's intrisic ability to tap for 1 colorless. Its more streamlined without it. And it creates more interesting gamestates without it.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I like all of those name suggestions Blue, sans Domesticated Wumpus. I may spit some names later but nothing now. Tired.
That's a fair point, but it feels like the kind of card we'd need to test.
While this is true, and would be something that could kill the card if it was, say, an uncommon in an actual set, for the purposes of Cube it should be okay. If we're playing online, you can put words on the cards, and in person you can use... I dunno, colored scraps of paper.
I think bondafong designed this, and I like it a lot. We need a good name for it though.
I've never seen the movie (I'm not much of a movie guy), but my sister speaks fondly of it and this made me chuckle.
Yeah, moreso than many of the other cards this one is a 'test it!' for sure, hehe.
I love the idea of a life upkeep, actually. It might be able to get away with being a 2/2 with one, but I'm not sure.
Ask xfollowthereaperx this, not me! I thought the same thing!
Great idea!
I think I'll leave it as mono-Red for now, but when the Cube has made a lot more progress, it's very possible that it could get shifted to Multicolor depending on how the designs and slots work out.
I'd suggest "Target creature can't block this turn", making him an upgrade to Goblin Shortcutter if I had to name something. But Red's efficient creatures almost always have downsides, so giving it a groundbreaking-for-Red body AND an upgrade is perhaps going a bit too far in terms of Red's design philosophy.
It could also be a possible hybrid card (effectively making it Reknit+), but I'm not really sure what to do with this card at all. It's kind of on the chopping block, except that nothing desperately needs to be "chopped" yet since the Cube is so incomplete.
Without it, it's a worse Arbor Elf. Also, I don't mind pushing Green's mana elves, especially with the still-powerful-but-not-as-powerful-now incarnations of the manastones.
...I've even thought about Magus of the Ring. *gulp*
In other news... I'll try to make some sort of To-do list of the biggest tasks at the moment.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
they already made him. i honestly don't think it would be too strong to print
magus of the ring - G
creature - elf shaman
T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
1/1
Probably not printable but defiantly not even close to the power of Sol Ring. I think it's a perfect fit into this set. If we keep the "Arbor Elf 2" then we just need one more that produces more than just green. "Arbor Elf 2" could be a reflecting pool elf.