MTG Salvation

Although the complexities of designing cards constantly evolve, the basics remain the same. This article retains much of its relevance to card design, even though not only a new set but an entirely new card type has been released since its publication. For those of you who didn't read it the first time, it's a good read if you dabble in card design. For those of you who did, perhaps reading it a second time will refresh your memory or help you to understand the concepts better than you would have the first time through.

Imagine if Magic had no creatures. It would be an incredibly boring game. Mill, burn, and combo would be the only viable strategies. The game would lose the dynamics of attacking and blocking, combat tricks, and a great deal of its interactivity. So if you're making your own sets, make sure to consider the importance of creatures before you hop in.

Okay, so you've created several dozen cards and you've posted them on the Custom Sets & Cards forums. You've even received praise from the forum-going populace. However, you want to do something on a grander scale. You've decided that you want to create a set.

In his first article for MTG Salvation, Eliminator talks about when a player-created card isn't balanced just because it's rare, when cards do too much, and when being underpowered isn't always bad.