I recently started editing for the author of these articles, so I thought I would post in these forums. The draft starts with Kiora and gets weirder from there. Some of the more questionable choices are sure to spark some interesting discussion. Enjoy!
I have been "binge listening" to all of your podcasts recently, wondering when we will get an episode about BFZ. Love the podcast, it is proving very helpful for starting my cube!
Thanks for the tips! I do like Anointer of Champions as an aggro/token enabler of sorts, but it may be that it doesn't pan out. It will certainly be upgraded eventually. I also added Blood Scrivener to black since the aggro support at 2 was a little shallow.
Thanks for the help! Your under $2 list is great, I had no idea Channel was so dang cheap The "Draft the Above Person's Cube" thread looks awesome, I will certainly check it out. What happens if two people draft the same cube and both post at around the same time?
As for 2 power 1-drops, how many is a good number? I have 5 1-drops in each of those colors, and while they aren't all 2 power, they are all aggressive. Should I be switching out some of the (very good) 1/1s for 1 for 2/1s for 1, or should I be expanding the colors 1-drop sections by 1 or 2 cards?
EDIT: I went ahead and switched Seal of Fire for Firedrinker Satyr, since red is the most aggressive and seal isn't amazing.
I own a Flesh Carver, but I was not aware it was a very cubeable card. How good is it in Cube? Should I remove, say, Royal Assassin for it?
I would start with stuff that I own and build from there, but I have so few white cards and virtually no fixing, so I figured I might as well start a little bit higher than that.
It’s interesting that I got a mono-red aggro/burn card and a card that specifically hates that card in the same bracket.
Results:
VenserFR: 19.5
Scarbo: 19
Venser FR
Design (5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): This is certainly appealing, especially to Spikes. It is very close to Ball Lightning in the right deck, often even better. Johnnies will enjoy building the deck that takes advantage of it the best (Zada, Hedron Grinder anyone?). Timmy is less excited about it, but he certainly doesn’t hate the card.
-Elegance (2.5/3): This is a very elegant card. Every aspect makes sense and flows, except for the flavor text, which is a bit confusing.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or rules problems here.
-Balance (1/3): This is where the card suffers a bit. Ball Lighting is a great card. If it was in Standard right now, it would see a ton of play and the red deck would be one of the top, if not the top, deck. This card, in the right shell, can be even better. Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, and Goblin Rabblemaster are all contenders for the Standard red aggro deck. This works unreasonably well with those cards. You can turn any of your tokens into a Ball Lightning and do an extra 5 damage, while drawing an extra card. That is insane. But here’s what really pushes it over the top: it is an instant. That means that opponents will no longer be able to block your tokens with X/6’s without having the distinct possibility of being blown out. That makes this card very powerful in any token deck at all, and even more powerful in the Standard red aggro decks. Those decks would dominate with this card, and it could have so easily been reined in by just making it a sorcery. It even behaves more like the original when it can only be cast at sorcery speed.
Creativity (4/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): This section is a bit weird for this challenge considering you are supposed to make a card that hearkens back to another. Treasure Cruise would get a bad grade here, even though it did everything else right (well, except for balance). Your design does this fairly well however: Turning something into something else is an unusual way to do this effect, and making it a cantrip is another interesting touch.
-Flavor (2/3): The flavor text doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is decent and everything else is very cool. This card could be miles better with a short and sweet flavor text though.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “Sacrifice this creature” should be “Sacrifice that creature.” Other than that there are no problems.
-Main Challenge (X/2): Definitely meets this challenge.
-Subchallenges (X/2): Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
Scarbo
Design (5.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): There are some cool ways for Johnny to abuse this, so he is pretty excited. Timmy likes NOT dying to red aggro decks, so he likes the card as well. Spike is a bit more ambivalent about it since it dies to half of the average red deck’s cards, but it is still powerful and has potential.
-Elegance (3/3): This card is elegant indeed. Certainly no comprehension issues. It is short and sweet, no points off here.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or rules problems here. Wizards doesn’t like to print super effective color hosers anymore, but the fragility of this card makes it fine.
-Balance (3/3): Once again: the fragility of the card makes it fine. It can be hard for the red deck to deal with if you protect it, but decks without Lightning Greaves won’t really be able to end games with it. Circle of Protection: Red is definitely better.
Creativity (2/6)
-Uniqueness (0.5/3): There is really very little unique about this card. It is an interesting combination of abilities, but it is only two and neither is unique.
-Flavor (1.5/3): The name is pretty interesting, it is kind of weird but very cool as a counter to Lightning Bolt. It is missing flavor text, despite having room for it. The card wouldn’t look great with so little text. And this card, with a name like this, could really use some cool flavor text on it! As-is we aren’t really sure what it is doing.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): Okay. So this is the same cost as Circle of Protection: Red and it prevents damage. At that simple level it is a similar card. However, it is a different type, has flash, has a weird name, and has a static instead of activated ability. It is very unlikely that anyone will think of Circle of Protection: Red when they see this card, and CoPR isn’t much of an “older favorite” anyway. This really is on the fence for meeting this challenge at all.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
I have been interested in Cube for a while, but I have never actually purchased one physically. I have been maintaining a 360 Pauper Cube for several sets now, and I really enjoy it, but being all commons and not really being comparable to, say, Legacy Cube, I wasn't really excited about purchasing it, even though that was my intention. Then it struck me: my collection actually has a lot of great cards for a rare cube! I looked through my collection, got a list together. (LINK: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/38744) I own 242 of the cards (tagged "Owned") so it won't cost too much to buy/trade for the rest.
However, I have very little experience with designing rare cubes. I have done some research and learned a lot to get this far, but it is still pretty rough. I am looking for some advice on how to refine it a little more, any budget staples that I am missing but belong, and what archetypes seems supported versus which archetypes/colors seems weak and/or unfocused. Keep in mind I would like to keep my cards in as much as possible so I can keep the price relatively low. That said, if any cards, owned or otherwise, seem too far below the level of the cube or just clearly don't belong please let me know. I want to have a good, solid starting point that I can continue to build upon later.
Am I crazy or is this card Standard playable, a staple in Modern Tron, Vintage and Legacy playable, and a stupid good card in every commander deck ever?
Yeah whoops, meant test of faith there. Test of faith led to some real blowouts in my cube, it can win games by itself if the situation is right. But it is pretty situational. God's Willing is in my cube, better than Stave off.
Frontline Purifier seems fine, 4 cmc would be too good probably.
Scapehunting: 6 cmc seems like soooo much. Maybe 3WW for a sorcery?
Cyclic Knowledge is super cool, I could see it enabling some fringe combo in Modern, but then again Living Lore didn't, so this probably wouldn't.
Frenzied Onslaught: Compare to Cleaver Riot. Could probably stand to be Premonition 4 or even Premonition 3 for 2R, since warning your opponent well ahead of time about a card like this is not ideal.
Dovetwine is fine. Compare to Ojutai's Command. Super good, standard playable, but not overpowered or mainstream Modern playable.
Wildtouched Dreamer should definitely be a 3/3. I just had an idea that might work better with the whole dream theme:
Wildtouched Dreamer2RG
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
RG, T: Target Elemental creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Whenever an Elemental creature enters the battefield, untap Wildtouched Dreamer.
3/3
The numbers could be adjusted and the design is rough, but the core idea I think fits your set pretty well.
Design (6/6)
-Appeal (3/3): This is a pretty appealing card. Johnnies love it because it lets them cast things on the cheap and can enable combos, Timmy likes it because it is a big creature they can drop early, and Spike loves it because of how powerful it is, and how many choices it gives him.
-Elegance (3/3): While this is a little wordy, the keyword is clean and makes perfect sense. The removal ability is also quite clean. It makes sense flavorfully as well, coming together as a cohesive card that bodes well for future cards as far as elegance is concerned.
Development (5.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (2.5/3): This card is a house in Limited, and depending on the competitiveness of Humans in Standard, could very well see play there. But Standard isn’t the problem: this is extremely powerful in any limited format with a significant amount of humans. Killing something around turn five while trading your creature for a 4/6 is very good, especially if there are graveyard and sacrifice interactions. The keyword itself is also very dangerous. Food Chain is a busted card, and this puts a slightly more balanced version on creatures. It isn’t inherently busted, but it is a very hard mechanic to balance.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (1/3): Need I say Food Chain again? The mechanic is clearly influenced by that card, and it is also quite similar to exploit. This card itself is similar to Silumgar Butcher, which is similar to a whole slew of Necrataal-like creatures. While it is somewhat unique combination of these effects, it can’t get a great score here.
-Flavor (2/3): Classic flavor executed quite well. No flavor text is the only deduction here.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): This is a pretty good first card to spoil. It would get people excited about the set. It seems like it would go well in a return to Innistrad block, which would give the keyword Ritual pretty serious implications…
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 21.5/25
Design (5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): Spike loves this card because, in the right shell, it is one of the best burn spells ever. Johnny is excited for building that shell, and, while he is a bit more ambivalent, Timmy enjoys taking out a quarter of his opponent’s life total as much as the next guy.
-Elegance (2.5/3): While it is not as elegant as Lightning Strike, it is a very elegant card, especially considering most of the text is for an ability word. The flavor and effects mesh into a cohesive whole that people can immediately understand. However, there is an issue (discussed in Flavor) that detracts from this section a bit as well.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (3/3): Hmm, this is quite a card. It isn’t busted: if it was, cards like Goblin Grenade and Shrapnel Blast would be too, and they don’t even see that much play in Modern, let alone Legacy. Those cards are a bit more specific than this is, however. This just asks you to play lots of creatures. Cards like Hordeling Outburst get you most of the way there already. Young Pyromancer also likes this card a lot. I can imagine a Pyromancer tokens build with this and Goblin Grenade being a tier 2-3 deck in Modern. In Standard, with the right token support, this could be a card, but I don’t think it will ever be abusable enough that it is a huge problem.
Creativity (2.5/6)
-Uniqueness (0.5/3): There is pretty much nothing unique about this card. Burn spells that conditionally 5 your opponent are common, and this condition is hardly innovative. The keyword itself is fairly basic as well.
-Flavor (2/3): Clean, classic flavor that feels very red and very mobbish. The flavor text is suboptimal though (seems like a “well duh” statement) and doesn’t relate very well to the flame aspect of the card, which causes some disconnect between the name and flavor text.
Polish (6/7)
-Quality (2/3): The Mob Mentality text should read: “If you control four or more creatures, Barrage of Flame deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead.” The flavor text is missing a comma: “Once the mob takes over, there is no stopping them.”
-Main Challenge (2/2): This card is pretty exciting, it makes a decent first spoiler.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 19.5/25
Design (5/6)
-Appeal (2/3): This appeals to Spike, since it is very powerful if used correctly. This appeals to Johnny, since building a deck to take advantage of it without just being really weak to removal is tricky. Timmy is less excited, since it is small and requires him to not play other creatures if he wants it to be good. For that reason, no psychographic is super excited.
-Elegance (3/3): Quite elegant. Simple, cohesive… not reason to take off any points here.
Development (4.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rules, color, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (1.5/3): While this can be very good, it is restrictive enough that it won’t be amazing. The problem here is with the keyword. Making this the headlining card of a set means that the keyword should be in the set a lot, and the keyword isn’t very good. When someone play a 2-drop with this mechanic, and then take their next turn and have a 3 drop in their hand, they don’t want to cast it. The mechanic makes people feel bad. Rewarding people for not playing many creatures has two problems: 1, it punishes limited players who want or have to play more creatures, and 2, newer players who try to build around the mechanic will often get crushed by more experienced player who don’t foo with it much and players with a reasonable amount of removal. It is okay to have a couple effects like this (Wizards has done it from time to time) but to make it your headlining keyword spells disaster for the limited format and for newer players.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (0/3): Well, this isn’t very unique. It is a black Knight (an old concept by now) that has the Homicidal Seclusion/Deadly Wanderings effect on itself. There is really nothing unique at all about this card.
-Flavor (3/3): Nice flavor, the name fits the card very well and the flavor text feels right. This Knight sure is antisocial. The ability, even for its other problems, does have good flavor.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): Saying “If” at the beginning of the Solitary text isn’t correct: “If” goes on triggered abilities, activated abilities, and other effects that happen, rather than always being there. The ability should read “As long as you control exactly one creature” instead.
-Main Challenge (1/2): This really isn’t a great first spoiler card, for the reasons stated in balance and for the fact that it isn’t good/appealing enough to get a whole lot of people excited. Even if the ability word was a good one, the card itself just doesn’t feel special. The first spoiled card should get at least a 1.5 in Uniqueness.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 18/25
Design (5.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): This appeals very strongly to Johnnies. Blinking is a great strategy that people like to build, and this is a house in said strategy. Aggressive W/U Blink with racing a staying power? Sign me up! Timmies are okay with the card since it is well costed and has abilities that go very well with large creatures. Spikes love this card, especially for limited, where it is a house.
-Elegance (3/3): This is a very elegant card. The name and type makes sense with the abilities, and the abilities are simple and readable. It reads very well.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (3/3): For limited play, this is what you would call a “mythic uncommon.” It will be a great first pick, and define a lot of the format. Occasionally this type of card sees constructed play, but that is usually only when there is a somewhat linear/themed deck in Standard that the card fits in. Wizards likes to print a few of these cards every set, and, as far as Balance is concerned, this is as good as any of their efforts.
Creativity (4/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): Blink effects like this on an activated ability are hardly new, and exile effects like this, while they are virtually nonexistent in official Magic, they are commonplace in the custom magic forums. However, this is an interesting combination, and exile effects are still relatively unexplored. I am sure there aren’t any cards, custom or otherwise, that are as well done or interesting as this.
-Flavor (2/3): No flavor text is the only problem here. I like that, from “heaven, “ the angel blesses all the noble attackers with lifelink. Plus, while on the battlefield, she can rescue them from removal or deadly situations.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): All good here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): GREAT first card to spoil: it is super exciting and hints at an exile theme in the set, which people would be very excited about.
-Subchallenges (2/2): Both met.
Total: 22.5/25
Design (2.5/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This isn’t super appealing for a planeswalker, as it is very narrow. Making equipment free to equip is cool and Johnnies might like that, but Puresteel Paladin is a far better for that purpose. Spikes might like it a little in an affinity deck for the -2, but even then there are so many better options in eternal formats, and if there aren’t better options in Standard, chances are the affinity deck wouldn’t be viable anyway. I am pretty sure that Timmies couldn’t care less about this card, it just doesn’t do much he is interested in.
-Elegance (1.5/3): The effects are relatively simple, and they go together reasonably well. Planeswalkers are difficult to evaluate in this area, because they are inherently not very elegant. It doesn’t really read very well, all of the abilities are underwhelming and, while they relate to each other, they have virtually no synergy.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rarity, rules, or color problems here.
-Balance (1/3): This is certainly not too powerful. It has some synergies that could be decent, but they aren’t good enough to have a huge effect. The points you get off here is because the card is too weak. Equipping two equipments for free is just such a small effect, and making it two is completely unnecessary. Only a very bad deck could fully utilize the effect. The second one is the best, but there are a lot of removal effects on planeswalkers, and this is by far the most conditional of them. The ultimate is just dismal. Why not equip them too? This ultimate just doesn’t do enough to be worth working towards. The only thing possibly worth doing with this card is killing two things, but there will almost always be better ways to do that.
Creativity (0.5/6)
-Uniqueness (0/3): There is nothing unique about this card. Free equip, removal based on number of artifacts (or other permanents), and tutoring for stuff, including equipment, are all old effects. Plus the planeswalker is so clearly based on the original (Nahiri, the Lithomancer), who is far better.
-Flavor (0.5/3): The flavor here is dismal. Nahiri doesn’t actually exile things or care about artifacts in and of themselves, just equipment. The other two abilities fit, but they fit less than the abilities on the original Nahiri.
Polish (3.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): Other than being a planeswalker, this is a pretty terrible card to spoil first; it would really spoil people’s expectations of the set. Bordering on just being disqualified.
-Subchallenges (0/2): Neither are met: it is a mythic rare and has no keywords.
Total: 10.5/25
Design (1.5/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This is a decent creature for limited that provides some insurance against mana screw. That’s it. This is a middle of the pack pick-up, that won’t particularly excite anyone. Johnny is intrigued by possible combos, but less for this card than for the mechanic, which is interesting. No one else is particularly excited, though they don’t hate it.
-Elegance (0.5/3): What does this even do? (I understand now, but that was my initial reaction) It took me a few tries to grasp what the heck the card was doing, and even now it doesn’t really mesh. Mana Focus has similar problems to Cycling: there is rarely a good reason as to why a card has the ability, it is there purely for gameplay reasons. I love me some cycling, but it has serious design flaws. The rest of the card doesn’t have that much cohesiveness either.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or, as far as I know, rules problems here.
-Balance (3/3): This isn’t too good, but it isn’t too bad either. It is a fine uncommon that will be limited playable. No problems here.
Creativity (3.5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is definitely unique. Aside from Mana Focus (which is quite innovative) the trigger to give any one of your creatures deathtouch is very interesting, as opposed to having deathtouch. I haven’t seen that before, it is pretty cool. And Mana Focus is completely unprecedented and likely has a lot of cool design space (which unfortunately you don’t really use here).
-Flavor (1/3): The biggest problem with this card is that it is very design-centric. What I mean by that is it is too focused on doing interesting things from a design and play standpoint than it is from a flavor or elegance. It seems super cool to a lot of more experienced players, but newer players will just be confused. To newer players, the flavor of the card making sense is important. This just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why can it become a Swamp? How does it give something else deathtouch? What is surprising about it? This is a game of fantasy, but the fantastical magic still has to make sense. If this didn’t have flavor text, it would be a strait 0.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): This is a terrible first card to spoil. Some players will be excited about the ability and might not care that the card isn’t great, but a lot of player would just get totally turned off by this card.
-Subchallenges (2/2): Both met.
What Stave Off does is save a creature from dying in combat (or from burn) and make it really big afterwards. It has a relatively low set up cost and can create huge tempo swing when it works. I like Tandem Tactics a little better since it can win combat outright (it is much easier to make the other creature die) and it can do it TWICE. Plus life gain. I don't think it is a must include by any means, but I like it for my cube, and Stave Off will be missed.
At this point I think my cube is going to get a pretty big overhaul with this set, provided they print some more cubable colorless cards. I am going to remove the Signets and one of each multicolor pair (I currently run 6 of each) to open up 20 new colorless slots and shift a bit away from supporting 3 color strategies so much. At times it seemed like you got punished for playing two colors, so I am shifting to where you have to work a little more for the 3 color decks.
Plus Tandem Tactics says up to two, so it doesn't get blown out be removal. It is definitely an include for me, one of the best white pump spells ever imo.
Gideon's Reproach seems like the best permanent, non enchantment based and instant speed removal White has. I will be adding it over Smite.
Also, if you guys haven't noticed yet, Forked Bolt was reprinted at common in the Zendikar vs. Eldrazi Duel Deck. It is going right into my cube, over Twin Bolt. It is such a solid card.
Judging Complete! Scores not final until deadline.
Netn10
Design (4.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): Timmy really loves this card. I mean REALLY loves it. It makes all the creatures in his favorite colors way bigger while letting him draw more cards. Timmies love to play lots of colors so they can play all their coolest, most powerful spells, and this goes very well in multicolor decks. Johnny like this, since it has so much synergy if you set it up right. Johnny would have a lot of fun winning with the card. Casual-level Spikes are in love with the card, but more competitive, educated Spikes don’t have much use for it outside of a unique format where you can afford to set up a lot to go big (I could see a Standard U/G ramp deck doing well with this, though it would take support).
-Elegance (2/3): While the flavor on this is very cool, and the effects aren’t terribly complicated, it is more convoluted than it needs to be. It would be more elegant if, rather than giving all your nonred, nongreen creatures the ability, if it had “U, T: Draw 3 cards.” That way this creature is the teacher, not all of your Esper-colored creatures. It would read better and make more sense; as-is, it is extra complicated and confusing, not to mention really crazy in Commander (My version is still great there, just not insane. It would also read better for Spikes).
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color pie issues (Drawing cards is blue, power pumping for cards in hand is as well). No rules issues. This is a great mythic, so no problems there either.
-Balance (3/3): While this is pretty dang strong in Commander, it is a Mythic and is balanced enough that it wouldn’t be that good in most Standard environments. It is powerful, but it requires a large/varied boardstate before that power can be tapped. That and its mana cost already make its application narrow, and it is very bad against control decks. Its potential varies heavily by format (In the current Standard, a G/U devotion deck might be good with this card, or maybe a Temur aggro top-end), so no problems here. Unplayable in anything older than Standard.
Creativity (4.5/6)
-Uniqueness (1.5/3): The overall flavor concept of the card is quite unique. We have seen P/T pumping based on hand size before, and giving some of your creatures the ability to draw cards is not particularly original. Putting both on the same card is a bit of a no-brainer, so as far as mechanics this isn’t particularly original. But the flavor concept, of sophisticated creatures teaching less sophisticated creatures (through something as elegant as drawing cards) helps this get a decent score here.
-Flavor (3/3): On the same token, the flavor of this card is both unique and well done. This is a very Vorthos card, they are excited by the mention of such a cool and obscure plane as Iquatana. Great flavor text.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “Creatures you control gets” should be “creatures you control get.” Other than that, no problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Here as well.
Total: 21.5/25
Awkward Squirtle
Design (4.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): As a 5 mana 5/5 with a variety of relevant abilities, this card very much appeals to Spike. As a card that loves having a deck built around it, this card also appeals to Johnny. It appeals to Timmy far less, but it is still a relatively large card that can produce relatively large effects.
-Elegance (2/3): This card has a LOT of text. However, the reader understands the gist of it halfway through the second mode. This makes the card hold together very well, though it is still a bit complex and has some issues I will discuss in Flavor that mess it up a bit.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rarity, color, or rules problems here.
-Balance (3/3): This is very strong, no doubt about it. It won’t be very good in formats without one or both of these things: Very, very good self-mill/ways to get lands in the grave, and dual lands to make the abilities more efficient. This is definitely too expensive for Legacy or older formats, so that leaves Modern and maybe Standard, if it meets the above criteria. In Modern, you probably don’t want to be paying 5 mana for something that dies to removal with no value unless it is a total haymaker. If you build your deck right, this can be, but I don’t see this justifying its own deck or seeing play in any deck outside of Grixis Delve/Control, which probably doesn’t want it outside of the sideboard, if that. Long story short: it probably isn’t good enough in Modern. Johnnies would have fun with it though. Its abilities have the potential to be extremely oppressive in Standard with the right support. It can remove threats already on the board, keep new threats or removal from affecting the board, and stabilize/swing life totals. It can even attack for significant damage. But because all of those things require tapping, it can only do one at a time. This makes it safe enough that it probably wouldn’t destroy Standard. Really long story made really short: you get full points here.
Creativity (2.5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is a fairly unique combination of effects. Effects that count the number of a certain basic land type in the graveyard are nothing new, but putting it on an activated ability, adding a discard cost (nice touch, by the way), and the interesting modal effects make this total up to a very unique card.
-Flavor (0.5/3): Here is where the big problems are. “Geo” is the root for land, soil, or earth. It has very little to do with Swamps and even less to do with Islands. Geomancers are red and green, not Grixis. Sedraxis has graveyard synergies, but they are very creature focused. This card is so land focused that it doesn’t fit Grixis at all. The effects are on color, but the name and flavor of the effects aren’t. And to top it off, it has no room for flavor text.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No issues here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Caliburdeath
Design (3/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This appeals a little bit to Spike, and may have some use for any player. It is decent value and has choices, but it is still underpowered and doesn’t even grant card advantage, so it isn’t great.
-Elegance (2/3): This is doesn’t really have a very coherent feel to it, and the choice between two conditional effects is quite unnecessary.
Development (5/6)
-Viability (2.5/3): No color or rarity problems here. Making the modes conditional, however, is just not something Wizards would print. The choice is often meaningless, unless you control a black permanent and a green permanent. It really wouldn’t be bad at all if the card had the capability of gaining card advantage, though it often wouldn’t anyway since they would have to have an artifact/enchantment.
-Balance (2.5/3): This is okay, bordering on underpowered. It would be so easy to just make it an instant (and/or change it based on commentary in Viability), which would push it safely into constructed playability. As is it is just a mediocre limited/casual card.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): This is a pretty interesting way to do a charm-like effect, and making it conditional on controlling certain colors of permanents is fairly unique. Not really much else unusual or creative here though.
-Flavor (1/3): There really isn’t anything flavorful about this card except for the mention of Kaarthus. No room for flavor text is also bad here.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (1.5/3): Needs a dash instead of a comma after the “Choose one.” You misspelled Kaarthus in the title, but spelled it right in the text box. (UC) is not a rarity symbol, for uncommon the accepted symbol is U, or the full word.
-Main Challenge (2/2): Fine here.
-Subchallenge (1/2): The card isn’t a rare or mythic, but otherwise fine.
Total: 16.5/25
Cardlurd
Design (6/6)
-Appeal (3/3): Timmy very much loves this card, and Spike is pretty excited since it is pretty powerful. Johnny likes this since it requires some building around and allows for personalization (“I get to decide what this creature does based on what colors I play.”)
-Elegance (3/3): This is such an elegant design. It is texty, but by the second line everyone knows what is going on, since all the effects are symmetrical. A nice idea captured simply and elegantly on a card.
Development (5.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (2.5/3): As-is, this is a pretty balanced, decent rare. Hexproof makes all the difference, making it a standard playable card and super fun in casual. However, vigilance is a marginal ability and deathtouch doesn’t do much on a 5/5. This makes it, to an experienced player, just look like a good Temur card, not a card that actually reward 5 colors. If you vigilance was replaced with lifelink and deathtouch with menace, this card would be far, far more interesting. As-is it just won’t see any Modern play, but it has the potential to if the keyword were adjusted as stated. It would make a great top-end of a Zoo deck, or even provide incentive for a 4 or 5 color midrange build. The changes would also help it in limited, where it is quite mediocre.
Creativity (5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): There are some older cards, like Dominaria's Judgement and Last Stand, that this is reminiscent of, but I don’t recall this type of thing being on a creature. Overall it feels very fresh, especially to a newer player, who will find it to be very unique.
-Flavor (2.5/3): I wish it was called Adaptive Behemoth, that would roll of the tongue so much better and sound so much cooler (That isn’t really a problem here, this just seemed like the most appropriate place to mention it). Adaptive green monsters is a very old hat, but this card wears it in its own unique way and adds a new dimension to the usual form. A nice classic flavor with a new twist.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): Met.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.
Total: 23.5/25
RaikouRider
Design (3/6)
-Appeal (1.5/3): Timmy is mildy intrigued by the growth ability, but it starts out so small that he doesn’t have a whole lot of interest. Spike likes it okay, but it is still a 1/1 for 1 that had to hit to do anything, plus the work it takes to have all the land types. Johnny probably likes it somewhat, as it is interesting to try and build a deck around. However, it isn’t really his preferred type of build around, and it requires too much work to be great in a combo deck, despite the filter/draw ability.
-Elegance (1.5/3): This is very complex. The fact that its abilities scale seems unnecessarily complicated, and making them choices is even more unnecessary. Remove both of those things and it would be far more elegant.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (2.5/3): No color or rarity problems here. Having a modal effect whose choices are both conditional is just not something Wizards would print, however. It would be irrelevant a large portion of the time. There is a reason Wizards has never done it.
-Balance (1.5/3): This is underpowered. In draft, it is a 1/1 for 1 that might be kind of good if you play it turn one, but for the most part it is too conditional to make much of an effect. In constructed formats with shocks or duals, it is okay, but still underpowered enough that it is nowhere close to seeing play in eternal formats, and probably not in Standard.
Creativity (X/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is extremely unique, it has that going for it. While its individual effects aren’t uncommon, the combination, colors, and conditions easily make up for that.
-Flavor (2/3): The flavor is decent, but with no flavor text it can’t get a high rating here. A scholar draws cards, and a squire trains and gets bigger/better, which is pretty cool.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “When” should be “whenever,” as it may trigger more than once. Other than that no problems here (other than the double dash and single dashes for the modal ability, but that is likely due to the “non-Latin characters” restriction).
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.
I would probably play Curse of Chains over Zealous Guardian A 1/1 is just so small and the deck would probably be better with extra removal. It might be slightly slower, but probably better positioned against most decks since 1/1 just doesn't do much.
I recently started editing for the author of these articles, so I thought I would post in these forums. The draft starts with Kiora and gets weirder from there. Some of the more questionable choices are sure to spark some interesting discussion. Enjoy!
As for 2 power 1-drops, how many is a good number? I have 5 1-drops in each of those colors, and while they aren't all 2 power, they are all aggressive. Should I be switching out some of the (very good) 1/1s for 1 for 2/1s for 1, or should I be expanding the colors 1-drop sections by 1 or 2 cards?
EDIT: I went ahead and switched Seal of Fire for Firedrinker Satyr, since red is the most aggressive and seal isn't amazing.
I own a Flesh Carver, but I was not aware it was a very cubeable card. How good is it in Cube? Should I remove, say, Royal Assassin for it?
I would start with stuff that I own and build from there, but I have so few white cards and virtually no fixing, so I figured I might as well start a little bit higher than that.
Results:
VenserFR: 19.5
Scarbo: 19
Venser FR
-Appeal (2.5/3): This is certainly appealing, especially to Spikes. It is very close to Ball Lightning in the right deck, often even better. Johnnies will enjoy building the deck that takes advantage of it the best (Zada, Hedron Grinder anyone?). Timmy is less excited about it, but he certainly doesn’t hate the card.
-Elegance (2.5/3): This is a very elegant card. Every aspect makes sense and flows, except for the flavor text, which is a bit confusing.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or rules problems here.
-Balance (1/3): This is where the card suffers a bit. Ball Lighting is a great card. If it was in Standard right now, it would see a ton of play and the red deck would be one of the top, if not the top, deck. This card, in the right shell, can be even better. Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, and Goblin Rabblemaster are all contenders for the Standard red aggro deck. This works unreasonably well with those cards. You can turn any of your tokens into a Ball Lightning and do an extra 5 damage, while drawing an extra card. That is insane. But here’s what really pushes it over the top: it is an instant. That means that opponents will no longer be able to block your tokens with X/6’s without having the distinct possibility of being blown out. That makes this card very powerful in any token deck at all, and even more powerful in the Standard red aggro decks. Those decks would dominate with this card, and it could have so easily been reined in by just making it a sorcery. It even behaves more like the original when it can only be cast at sorcery speed.
Creativity (4/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): This section is a bit weird for this challenge considering you are supposed to make a card that hearkens back to another. Treasure Cruise would get a bad grade here, even though it did everything else right (well, except for balance). Your design does this fairly well however: Turning something into something else is an unusual way to do this effect, and making it a cantrip is another interesting touch.
-Flavor (2/3): The flavor text doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is decent and everything else is very cool. This card could be miles better with a short and sweet flavor text though.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “Sacrifice this creature” should be “Sacrifice that creature.” Other than that there are no problems.
-Main Challenge (X/2): Definitely meets this challenge.
-Subchallenges (X/2): Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
Scarbo
-Appeal (2.5/3): There are some cool ways for Johnny to abuse this, so he is pretty excited. Timmy likes NOT dying to red aggro decks, so he likes the card as well. Spike is a bit more ambivalent about it since it dies to half of the average red deck’s cards, but it is still powerful and has potential.
-Elegance (3/3): This card is elegant indeed. Certainly no comprehension issues. It is short and sweet, no points off here.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or rules problems here. Wizards doesn’t like to print super effective color hosers anymore, but the fragility of this card makes it fine.
-Balance (3/3): Once again: the fragility of the card makes it fine. It can be hard for the red deck to deal with if you protect it, but decks without Lightning Greaves won’t really be able to end games with it. Circle of Protection: Red is definitely better.
Creativity (2/6)
-Uniqueness (0.5/3): There is really very little unique about this card. It is an interesting combination of abilities, but it is only two and neither is unique.
-Flavor (1.5/3): The name is pretty interesting, it is kind of weird but very cool as a counter to Lightning Bolt. It is missing flavor text, despite having room for it. The card wouldn’t look great with so little text. And this card, with a name like this, could really use some cool flavor text on it! As-is we aren’t really sure what it is doing.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): Okay. So this is the same cost as Circle of Protection: Red and it prevents damage. At that simple level it is a similar card. However, it is a different type, has flash, has a weird name, and has a static instead of activated ability. It is very unlikely that anyone will think of Circle of Protection: Red when they see this card, and CoPR isn’t much of an “older favorite” anyway. This really is on the fence for meeting this challenge at all.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 19/25
I have been interested in Cube for a while, but I have never actually purchased one physically. I have been maintaining a 360 Pauper Cube for several sets now, and I really enjoy it, but being all commons and not really being comparable to, say, Legacy Cube, I wasn't really excited about purchasing it, even though that was my intention. Then it struck me: my collection actually has a lot of great cards for a rare cube! I looked through my collection, got a list together. (LINK: http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/38744) I own 242 of the cards (tagged "Owned") so it won't cost too much to buy/trade for the rest.
However, I have very little experience with designing rare cubes. I have done some research and learned a lot to get this far, but it is still pretty rough. I am looking for some advice on how to refine it a little more, any budget staples that I am missing but belong, and what archetypes seems supported versus which archetypes/colors seems weak and/or unfocused. Keep in mind I would like to keep my cards in as much as possible so I can keep the price relatively low. That said, if any cards, owned or otherwise, seem too far below the level of the cube or just clearly don't belong please let me know. I want to have a good, solid starting point that I can continue to build upon later.
Thanks in advance!
Am I crazy or is this card Standard playable, a staple in Modern Tron, Vintage and Legacy playable, and a stupid good card in every commander deck ever?
I mean I can't even...
(but seriously no more puns, no matter how odd)
Scapehunting: 6 cmc seems like soooo much. Maybe 3WW for a sorcery?
Cyclic Knowledge is super cool, I could see it enabling some fringe combo in Modern, but then again Living Lore didn't, so this probably wouldn't.
Frenzied Onslaught: Compare to Cleaver Riot. Could probably stand to be Premonition 4 or even Premonition 3 for 2R, since warning your opponent well ahead of time about a card like this is not ideal.
Dovetwine is fine. Compare to Ojutai's Command. Super good, standard playable, but not overpowered or mainstream Modern playable.
Wildtouched Dreamer should definitely be a 3/3. I just had an idea that might work better with the whole dream theme:
Wildtouched Dreamer 2RG
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
RG, T: Target Elemental creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Whenever an Elemental creature enters the battefield, untap Wildtouched Dreamer.
3/3
The numbers could be adjusted and the design is rough, but the core idea I think fits your set pretty well.
Scarbo: 22.5
Doomfish: 21.5
PsyOp: 19.5
Ryder052: 18
Tilwin: 16.5
Sperlman: 10.5
Design (6/6)
-Appeal (3/3): This is a pretty appealing card. Johnnies love it because it lets them cast things on the cheap and can enable combos, Timmy likes it because it is a big creature they can drop early, and Spike loves it because of how powerful it is, and how many choices it gives him.
-Elegance (3/3): While this is a little wordy, the keyword is clean and makes perfect sense. The removal ability is also quite clean. It makes sense flavorfully as well, coming together as a cohesive card that bodes well for future cards as far as elegance is concerned.
Development (5.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (2.5/3): This card is a house in Limited, and depending on the competitiveness of Humans in Standard, could very well see play there. But Standard isn’t the problem: this is extremely powerful in any limited format with a significant amount of humans. Killing something around turn five while trading your creature for a 4/6 is very good, especially if there are graveyard and sacrifice interactions. The keyword itself is also very dangerous. Food Chain is a busted card, and this puts a slightly more balanced version on creatures. It isn’t inherently busted, but it is a very hard mechanic to balance.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (1/3): Need I say Food Chain again? The mechanic is clearly influenced by that card, and it is also quite similar to exploit. This card itself is similar to Silumgar Butcher, which is similar to a whole slew of Necrataal-like creatures. While it is somewhat unique combination of these effects, it can’t get a great score here.
-Flavor (2/3): Classic flavor executed quite well. No flavor text is the only deduction here.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): This is a pretty good first card to spoil. It would get people excited about the set. It seems like it would go well in a return to Innistrad block, which would give the keyword Ritual pretty serious implications…
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 21.5/25
Design (5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): Spike loves this card because, in the right shell, it is one of the best burn spells ever. Johnny is excited for building that shell, and, while he is a bit more ambivalent, Timmy enjoys taking out a quarter of his opponent’s life total as much as the next guy.
-Elegance (2.5/3): While it is not as elegant as Lightning Strike, it is a very elegant card, especially considering most of the text is for an ability word. The flavor and effects mesh into a cohesive whole that people can immediately understand. However, there is an issue (discussed in Flavor) that detracts from this section a bit as well.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (3/3): Hmm, this is quite a card. It isn’t busted: if it was, cards like Goblin Grenade and Shrapnel Blast would be too, and they don’t even see that much play in Modern, let alone Legacy. Those cards are a bit more specific than this is, however. This just asks you to play lots of creatures. Cards like Hordeling Outburst get you most of the way there already. Young Pyromancer also likes this card a lot. I can imagine a Pyromancer tokens build with this and Goblin Grenade being a tier 2-3 deck in Modern. In Standard, with the right token support, this could be a card, but I don’t think it will ever be abusable enough that it is a huge problem.
Creativity (2.5/6)
-Uniqueness (0.5/3): There is pretty much nothing unique about this card. Burn spells that conditionally 5 your opponent are common, and this condition is hardly innovative. The keyword itself is fairly basic as well.
-Flavor (2/3): Clean, classic flavor that feels very red and very mobbish. The flavor text is suboptimal though (seems like a “well duh” statement) and doesn’t relate very well to the flame aspect of the card, which causes some disconnect between the name and flavor text.
Polish (6/7)
-Quality (2/3): The Mob Mentality text should read: “If you control four or more creatures, Barrage of Flame deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead.” The flavor text is missing a comma: “Once the mob takes over, there is no stopping them.”
-Main Challenge (2/2): This card is pretty exciting, it makes a decent first spoiler.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 19.5/25
Design (5/6)
-Appeal (2/3): This appeals to Spike, since it is very powerful if used correctly. This appeals to Johnny, since building a deck to take advantage of it without just being really weak to removal is tricky. Timmy is less excited, since it is small and requires him to not play other creatures if he wants it to be good. For that reason, no psychographic is super excited.
-Elegance (3/3): Quite elegant. Simple, cohesive… not reason to take off any points here.
Development (4.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rules, color, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (1.5/3): While this can be very good, it is restrictive enough that it won’t be amazing. The problem here is with the keyword. Making this the headlining card of a set means that the keyword should be in the set a lot, and the keyword isn’t very good. When someone play a 2-drop with this mechanic, and then take their next turn and have a 3 drop in their hand, they don’t want to cast it. The mechanic makes people feel bad. Rewarding people for not playing many creatures has two problems: 1, it punishes limited players who want or have to play more creatures, and 2, newer players who try to build around the mechanic will often get crushed by more experienced player who don’t foo with it much and players with a reasonable amount of removal. It is okay to have a couple effects like this (Wizards has done it from time to time) but to make it your headlining keyword spells disaster for the limited format and for newer players.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (0/3): Well, this isn’t very unique. It is a black Knight (an old concept by now) that has the Homicidal Seclusion/Deadly Wanderings effect on itself. There is really nothing unique at all about this card.
-Flavor (3/3): Nice flavor, the name fits the card very well and the flavor text feels right. This Knight sure is antisocial. The ability, even for its other problems, does have good flavor.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): Saying “If” at the beginning of the Solitary text isn’t correct: “If” goes on triggered abilities, activated abilities, and other effects that happen, rather than always being there. The ability should read “As long as you control exactly one creature” instead.
-Main Challenge (1/2): This really isn’t a great first spoiler card, for the reasons stated in balance and for the fact that it isn’t good/appealing enough to get a whole lot of people excited. Even if the ability word was a good one, the card itself just doesn’t feel special. The first spoiled card should get at least a 1.5 in Uniqueness.
-Subchallenges (2/2): All good here.
Total: 18/25
Design (5.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): This appeals very strongly to Johnnies. Blinking is a great strategy that people like to build, and this is a house in said strategy. Aggressive W/U Blink with racing a staying power? Sign me up! Timmies are okay with the card since it is well costed and has abilities that go very well with large creatures. Spikes love this card, especially for limited, where it is a house.
-Elegance (3/3): This is a very elegant card. The name and type makes sense with the abilities, and the abilities are simple and readable. It reads very well.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (3/3): For limited play, this is what you would call a “mythic uncommon.” It will be a great first pick, and define a lot of the format. Occasionally this type of card sees constructed play, but that is usually only when there is a somewhat linear/themed deck in Standard that the card fits in. Wizards likes to print a few of these cards every set, and, as far as Balance is concerned, this is as good as any of their efforts.
Creativity (4/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): Blink effects like this on an activated ability are hardly new, and exile effects like this, while they are virtually nonexistent in official Magic, they are commonplace in the custom magic forums. However, this is an interesting combination, and exile effects are still relatively unexplored. I am sure there aren’t any cards, custom or otherwise, that are as well done or interesting as this.
-Flavor (2/3): No flavor text is the only problem here. I like that, from “heaven, “ the angel blesses all the noble attackers with lifelink. Plus, while on the battlefield, she can rescue them from removal or deadly situations.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): All good here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): GREAT first card to spoil: it is super exciting and hints at an exile theme in the set, which people would be very excited about.
-Subchallenges (2/2): Both met.
Total: 22.5/25
Design (2.5/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This isn’t super appealing for a planeswalker, as it is very narrow. Making equipment free to equip is cool and Johnnies might like that, but Puresteel Paladin is a far better for that purpose. Spikes might like it a little in an affinity deck for the -2, but even then there are so many better options in eternal formats, and if there aren’t better options in Standard, chances are the affinity deck wouldn’t be viable anyway. I am pretty sure that Timmies couldn’t care less about this card, it just doesn’t do much he is interested in.
-Elegance (1.5/3): The effects are relatively simple, and they go together reasonably well. Planeswalkers are difficult to evaluate in this area, because they are inherently not very elegant. It doesn’t really read very well, all of the abilities are underwhelming and, while they relate to each other, they have virtually no synergy.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rarity, rules, or color problems here.
-Balance (1/3): This is certainly not too powerful. It has some synergies that could be decent, but they aren’t good enough to have a huge effect. The points you get off here is because the card is too weak. Equipping two equipments for free is just such a small effect, and making it two is completely unnecessary. Only a very bad deck could fully utilize the effect. The second one is the best, but there are a lot of removal effects on planeswalkers, and this is by far the most conditional of them. The ultimate is just dismal. Why not equip them too? This ultimate just doesn’t do enough to be worth working towards. The only thing possibly worth doing with this card is killing two things, but there will almost always be better ways to do that.
Creativity (0.5/6)
-Uniqueness (0/3): There is nothing unique about this card. Free equip, removal based on number of artifacts (or other permanents), and tutoring for stuff, including equipment, are all old effects. Plus the planeswalker is so clearly based on the original (Nahiri, the Lithomancer), who is far better.
-Flavor (0.5/3): The flavor here is dismal. Nahiri doesn’t actually exile things or care about artifacts in and of themselves, just equipment. The other two abilities fit, but they fit less than the abilities on the original Nahiri.
Polish (3.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): Other than being a planeswalker, this is a pretty terrible card to spoil first; it would really spoil people’s expectations of the set. Bordering on just being disqualified.
-Subchallenges (0/2): Neither are met: it is a mythic rare and has no keywords.
Total: 10.5/25
Design (1.5/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This is a decent creature for limited that provides some insurance against mana screw. That’s it. This is a middle of the pack pick-up, that won’t particularly excite anyone. Johnny is intrigued by possible combos, but less for this card than for the mechanic, which is interesting. No one else is particularly excited, though they don’t hate it.
-Elegance (0.5/3): What does this even do? (I understand now, but that was my initial reaction) It took me a few tries to grasp what the heck the card was doing, and even now it doesn’t really mesh. Mana Focus has similar problems to Cycling: there is rarely a good reason as to why a card has the ability, it is there purely for gameplay reasons. I love me some cycling, but it has serious design flaws. The rest of the card doesn’t have that much cohesiveness either.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rarity, or, as far as I know, rules problems here.
-Balance (3/3): This isn’t too good, but it isn’t too bad either. It is a fine uncommon that will be limited playable. No problems here.
Creativity (3.5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is definitely unique. Aside from Mana Focus (which is quite innovative) the trigger to give any one of your creatures deathtouch is very interesting, as opposed to having deathtouch. I haven’t seen that before, it is pretty cool. And Mana Focus is completely unprecedented and likely has a lot of cool design space (which unfortunately you don’t really use here).
-Flavor (1/3): The biggest problem with this card is that it is very design-centric. What I mean by that is it is too focused on doing interesting things from a design and play standpoint than it is from a flavor or elegance. It seems super cool to a lot of more experienced players, but newer players will just be confused. To newer players, the flavor of the card making sense is important. This just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why can it become a Swamp? How does it give something else deathtouch? What is surprising about it? This is a game of fantasy, but the fantastical magic still has to make sense. If this didn’t have flavor text, it would be a strait 0.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (0.5/2): This is a terrible first card to spoil. Some players will be excited about the ability and might not care that the card isn’t great, but a lot of player would just get totally turned off by this card.
-Subchallenges (2/2): Both met.
Total: 16.5/25
Yeah White, has room for 2 or 3 tricks in my estimation, and Tandem Tactics seems like it is pretty much the best. I run God's Willing, Shelter, and, until the I get Tandem Tactics, Test of Faith.
At this point I think my cube is going to get a pretty big overhaul with this set, provided they print some more cubable colorless cards. I am going to remove the Signets and one of each multicolor pair (I currently run 6 of each) to open up 20 new colorless slots and shift a bit away from supporting 3 color strategies so much. At times it seemed like you got punished for playing two colors, so I am shifting to where you have to work a little more for the 3 color decks.
I am also super excited about Eldrazi Devastator and Kozilek's Channeler, my cube is going to be going bigger with this set.
Gideon's Reproach seems like the best permanent, non enchantment based and instant speed removal White has. I will be adding it over Smite.
Also, if you guys haven't noticed yet, Forked Bolt was reprinted at common in the Zendikar vs. Eldrazi Duel Deck. It is going right into my cube, over Twin Bolt. It is such a solid card.
Netn10
Design (4.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): Timmy really loves this card. I mean REALLY loves it. It makes all the creatures in his favorite colors way bigger while letting him draw more cards. Timmies love to play lots of colors so they can play all their coolest, most powerful spells, and this goes very well in multicolor decks. Johnny like this, since it has so much synergy if you set it up right. Johnny would have a lot of fun winning with the card. Casual-level Spikes are in love with the card, but more competitive, educated Spikes don’t have much use for it outside of a unique format where you can afford to set up a lot to go big (I could see a Standard U/G ramp deck doing well with this, though it would take support).
-Elegance (2/3): While the flavor on this is very cool, and the effects aren’t terribly complicated, it is more convoluted than it needs to be. It would be more elegant if, rather than giving all your nonred, nongreen creatures the ability, if it had “U, T: Draw 3 cards.” That way this creature is the teacher, not all of your Esper-colored creatures. It would read better and make more sense; as-is, it is extra complicated and confusing, not to mention really crazy in Commander (My version is still great there, just not insane. It would also read better for Spikes).
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color pie issues (Drawing cards is blue, power pumping for cards in hand is as well). No rules issues. This is a great mythic, so no problems there either.
-Balance (3/3): While this is pretty dang strong in Commander, it is a Mythic and is balanced enough that it wouldn’t be that good in most Standard environments. It is powerful, but it requires a large/varied boardstate before that power can be tapped. That and its mana cost already make its application narrow, and it is very bad against control decks. Its potential varies heavily by format (In the current Standard, a G/U devotion deck might be good with this card, or maybe a Temur aggro top-end), so no problems here. Unplayable in anything older than Standard.
Creativity (4.5/6)
-Uniqueness (1.5/3): The overall flavor concept of the card is quite unique. We have seen P/T pumping based on hand size before, and giving some of your creatures the ability to draw cards is not particularly original. Putting both on the same card is a bit of a no-brainer, so as far as mechanics this isn’t particularly original. But the flavor concept, of sophisticated creatures teaching less sophisticated creatures (through something as elegant as drawing cards) helps this get a decent score here.
-Flavor (3/3): On the same token, the flavor of this card is both unique and well done. This is a very Vorthos card, they are excited by the mention of such a cool and obscure plane as Iquatana. Great flavor text.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “Creatures you control gets” should be “creatures you control get.” Other than that, no problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Here as well.
Total: 21.5/25
Design (4.5/6)
-Appeal (2.5/3): As a 5 mana 5/5 with a variety of relevant abilities, this card very much appeals to Spike. As a card that loves having a deck built around it, this card also appeals to Johnny. It appeals to Timmy far less, but it is still a relatively large card that can produce relatively large effects.
-Elegance (2/3): This card has a LOT of text. However, the reader understands the gist of it halfway through the second mode. This makes the card hold together very well, though it is still a bit complex and has some issues I will discuss in Flavor that mess it up a bit.
Development (6/6)
-Viability (3/3): No rarity, color, or rules problems here.
-Balance (3/3): This is very strong, no doubt about it. It won’t be very good in formats without one or both of these things: Very, very good self-mill/ways to get lands in the grave, and dual lands to make the abilities more efficient. This is definitely too expensive for Legacy or older formats, so that leaves Modern and maybe Standard, if it meets the above criteria. In Modern, you probably don’t want to be paying 5 mana for something that dies to removal with no value unless it is a total haymaker. If you build your deck right, this can be, but I don’t see this justifying its own deck or seeing play in any deck outside of Grixis Delve/Control, which probably doesn’t want it outside of the sideboard, if that. Long story short: it probably isn’t good enough in Modern. Johnnies would have fun with it though. Its abilities have the potential to be extremely oppressive in Standard with the right support. It can remove threats already on the board, keep new threats or removal from affecting the board, and stabilize/swing life totals. It can even attack for significant damage. But because all of those things require tapping, it can only do one at a time. This makes it safe enough that it probably wouldn’t destroy Standard. Really long story made really short: you get full points here.
Creativity (2.5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is a fairly unique combination of effects. Effects that count the number of a certain basic land type in the graveyard are nothing new, but putting it on an activated ability, adding a discard cost (nice touch, by the way), and the interesting modal effects make this total up to a very unique card.
-Flavor (0.5/3): Here is where the big problems are. “Geo” is the root for land, soil, or earth. It has very little to do with Swamps and even less to do with Islands. Geomancers are red and green, not Grixis. Sedraxis has graveyard synergies, but they are very creature focused. This card is so land focused that it doesn’t fit Grixis at all. The effects are on color, but the name and flavor of the effects aren’t. And to top it off, it has no room for flavor text.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No issues here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Design (3/6)
-Appeal (1/3): This appeals a little bit to Spike, and may have some use for any player. It is decent value and has choices, but it is still underpowered and doesn’t even grant card advantage, so it isn’t great.
-Elegance (2/3): This is doesn’t really have a very coherent feel to it, and the choice between two conditional effects is quite unnecessary.
Development (5/6)
-Viability (2.5/3): No color or rarity problems here. Making the modes conditional, however, is just not something Wizards would print. The choice is often meaningless, unless you control a black permanent and a green permanent. It really wouldn’t be bad at all if the card had the capability of gaining card advantage, though it often wouldn’t anyway since they would have to have an artifact/enchantment.
-Balance (2.5/3): This is okay, bordering on underpowered. It would be so easy to just make it an instant (and/or change it based on commentary in Viability), which would push it safely into constructed playability. As is it is just a mediocre limited/casual card.
Creativity (3/6)
-Uniqueness (2/3): This is a pretty interesting way to do a charm-like effect, and making it conditional on controlling certain colors of permanents is fairly unique. Not really much else unusual or creative here though.
-Flavor (1/3): There really isn’t anything flavorful about this card except for the mention of Kaarthus. No room for flavor text is also bad here.
Polish (5.5/7)
-Quality (1.5/3): Needs a dash instead of a comma after the “Choose one.” You misspelled Kaarthus in the title, but spelled it right in the text box. (UC) is not a rarity symbol, for uncommon the accepted symbol is U, or the full word.
-Main Challenge (2/2): Fine here.
-Subchallenge (1/2): The card isn’t a rare or mythic, but otherwise fine.
Total: 16.5/25
Design (6/6)
-Appeal (3/3): Timmy very much loves this card, and Spike is pretty excited since it is pretty powerful. Johnny likes this since it requires some building around and allows for personalization (“I get to decide what this creature does based on what colors I play.”)
-Elegance (3/3): This is such an elegant design. It is texty, but by the second line everyone knows what is going on, since all the effects are symmetrical. A nice idea captured simply and elegantly on a card.
Development (5.5/6)
-Viability (3/3): No color, rules, or rarity problems here.
-Balance (2.5/3): As-is, this is a pretty balanced, decent rare. Hexproof makes all the difference, making it a standard playable card and super fun in casual. However, vigilance is a marginal ability and deathtouch doesn’t do much on a 5/5. This makes it, to an experienced player, just look like a good Temur card, not a card that actually reward 5 colors. If you vigilance was replaced with lifelink and deathtouch with menace, this card would be far, far more interesting. As-is it just won’t see any Modern play, but it has the potential to if the keyword were adjusted as stated. It would make a great top-end of a Zoo deck, or even provide incentive for a 4 or 5 color midrange build. The changes would also help it in limited, where it is quite mediocre.
Creativity (5/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): There are some older cards, like Dominaria's Judgement and Last Stand, that this is reminiscent of, but I don’t recall this type of thing being on a creature. Overall it feels very fresh, especially to a newer player, who will find it to be very unique.
-Flavor (2.5/3): I wish it was called Adaptive Behemoth, that would roll of the tongue so much better and sound so much cooler (That isn’t really a problem here, this just seemed like the most appropriate place to mention it). Adaptive green monsters is a very old hat, but this card wears it in its own unique way and adds a new dimension to the usual form. A nice classic flavor with a new twist.
Polish (7/7)
-Quality (3/3): No problems here.
-Main Challenge (2/2): Met.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.
Total: 23.5/25
Design (3/6)
-Appeal (1.5/3): Timmy is mildy intrigued by the growth ability, but it starts out so small that he doesn’t have a whole lot of interest. Spike likes it okay, but it is still a 1/1 for 1 that had to hit to do anything, plus the work it takes to have all the land types. Johnny probably likes it somewhat, as it is interesting to try and build a deck around. However, it isn’t really his preferred type of build around, and it requires too much work to be great in a combo deck, despite the filter/draw ability.
-Elegance (1.5/3): This is very complex. The fact that its abilities scale seems unnecessarily complicated, and making them choices is even more unnecessary. Remove both of those things and it would be far more elegant.
Development (4/6)
-Viability (2.5/3): No color or rarity problems here. Having a modal effect whose choices are both conditional is just not something Wizards would print, however. It would be irrelevant a large portion of the time. There is a reason Wizards has never done it.
-Balance (1.5/3): This is underpowered. In draft, it is a 1/1 for 1 that might be kind of good if you play it turn one, but for the most part it is too conditional to make much of an effect. In constructed formats with shocks or duals, it is okay, but still underpowered enough that it is nowhere close to seeing play in eternal formats, and probably not in Standard.
Creativity (X/6)
-Uniqueness (2.5/3): This is extremely unique, it has that going for it. While its individual effects aren’t uncommon, the combination, colors, and conditions easily make up for that.
-Flavor (2/3): The flavor is decent, but with no flavor text it can’t get a high rating here. A scholar draws cards, and a squire trains and gets bigger/better, which is pretty cool.
Polish (6.5/7)
-Quality (2.5/3): “When” should be “whenever,” as it may trigger more than once. Other than that no problems here (other than the double dash and single dashes for the modal ability, but that is likely due to the “non-Latin characters” restriction).
-Main Challenge (2/2): All good here.
-Subchallenge (2/2): Both met.