Wow, some great ideas! Sad that Skizzik is already taken. Now to have to come up with a name I didn't just remember from another card.
I like those spell options. Probably the first two and the fourth one would be the best, as we kind of have a tutor with beseech the queen anyway and the barter in blood version is almost for sure a bit too strong though for the triple black cost or 4 mana cost. The 3 creatures version looks cool too.
I really like Veldrane's Courier being a combo of vampire nighthawk and entomb. Seems just about right for the cost, or maybe a tiny bit weak for 4 mana compared to the nighthawk, but that flexibility means it is probably perfect.
On the enchantment burn spell, it would still be COMPLETELY playable as a 1 damage burn. That way, it would be a forked bolt that has synergy with a enchantment theme and could be split over multiple turns.
On the topic of the enchantment that returns a creature from a graveyard to the battlefield with cumulative upkeep by DrDRum, I thought up this card that I think fits along with the idea well:
Borrowed Life 1B
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature card from the graveyard with a -1/-1 counter on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control with a -1/-1 counter on it.
I made this because Cumulative upkeep is a complicated ability to tack onto a animate dead, which is complicated enough with its official oracle card rules text (9 lines of text total, with around 6 lines JUST to make the enchant creature in graveyard clause work with bringing it back to the battlefield).
Now for another idea of mine: I really wanted to help mono color decks over some of the tri-color decks that get support in cube (and create some more interesting choices) so I decided to create a (2/U)(2/U)U cycle. That way the card would be REALLY good with its 3 color mode, decent with its 2UU mode, and meh with its 4U mode. That way, it would fit into decks that are going heavy into the color without having the BBB problem associated with some of black's cards.
{Needs a name} (2/U)(2/U)U
Instant
Counter target spell.
draw a card.
Seasonal Growth (2/G)(2/G)G
Sorcery
Put four 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Skizzik (2/R)(2/R)R
Creature - Elemental
When Skizzik enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to target creature.
3/3
The thing is, I can't think up a good black mana card for this cycle that would be good enough for cube and not just a murder + some other effect or shriekmaw-type card. Any ideas, or if this seems like a bad idea? Also, considered swapping the token-making ability to white (in the vein of spectral procession) but didn't want two cards so similar to each other while making saproling tokens could support the gw token strategies in cube.
So, you draw cards from your graveyard instead of your library? And the grave counters never influence what card you can get, only what reanimation creature you set yourself up with? Cool card, but the graveyard counters part seems just a bit off. I don't know how you could make it feel a bit better though. Also, do you just get screwed out of the game then if they exile your graveyard during your turn if you have a lot of grave counters? Admittedly, that probably won't happen unless you've already probably lost the game, but just curious how it would work.
Thanks for the feedback! That was really helpful. As for the cards themselves:
Firefury: I just looked through my cube and have a lot less of that mechanic than I originally did, so I'm going to cut it. I had around 25 to 30 cards of 405 with ____shift, but now have around 10 total, so I am just going to scrap it.
Gnoll Bloodkarn: Yep, that makes sense. Didn't think about Rogue Elephant. Would making the trigger deal 2 or 3 damage to its controller on a bad flip be overpowered considering red doesn't care as much about its life total? I would probably change it to " Whenever Gnoll Bloodkarn attacks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 2 damage to you."
Flame Lash: Thanks, proofreading 405 cards, plus the other 100 or so that I have as possible inclusions is tough.
Gnoll Bloodmage: For sure. It is supposed to be red's dark confidant, but it might be too good for sure with the abundance of burn in my cube right now.
Intuitive Tinkerer: I actually took this card straight from quitequiter's cube because it looked interesting. The change makes more sense with my cube though so I will do that.
Apostle of Magma: That makes sense, plus makes this guy nice for the sacrifice red black deck I was setting up as an archetype. Would making him a 3/1 make it overall more interesting, or do you think a 3/2 haste with upside is too good for 3 mana? I think that might be a bit too much.
Tartur Thief: I'm actually changing the manipulate mechanic probably to be something that triggers every turn, with smaller mana costs, and weaker abilities, or keep it kind of the way it is. This guy should probably just be the looting ability then on it entering the battlefield with no manipulate then.
Reckless Tactics: Done.
Static Shocks: Going to try at 5 just to see how it works, then buff it if it seems like red needs it to be.
Lightning Arc: I actually typed that one out wrong. It should be overload 2R, not 1R. That makes it a decent shock at sorcery speed, or a pyroclasm. Good flexibility for control decks, and decent burn for aggro to clear the way for creatures.
I've got a few good effects for sacrificing in other colors too (mainly black), and I'll upload the rest of my cube to imgur tonight so you guys can critique it. It really needs the fine tuning. The power level should be around modern level to legacy on the cards, with most at the modern level though.
I wish they would let you upload pdfs here...I'd be able to upload my whole cube easily. Sadly they don't. I'm just going to post most of my red section and let you critique it, then go section by section that way, or photobucket once I get a bit more time.
Sorry for not responding in a while, but that would probably be too op, as even a 1 cost effect would be really oppressive with multiple guys out, especially considering it is a punisher mechanic of sorts - your opponent will only choose the one that is best for him. But still a pretty good idea, and doable. I think that the option to remove the next would work better for what I am trying to do, but it does feel really clunky.
Manipulate [Cost] - [Effect] (At the beginning of your opponent's upkeep after this card enters the battlefield under your control, activate this ability unless an opponent pays its manipulate cost.
It isn't quite as bad as suspend for card space, but that probably isn't the best mechanic to say it is better than. I'm just thinking of all the errata I would probably need to do to make the option that I like work. For example, no where on my card does it say what happens when the permanent is gone. It would be best if the ability didn't trigger if the permanent is gone, but that would be adding the if this permanent is on the battlefield clause, which would make it worse than suspend even.
The idea with this mechanic was to do strong effects, but have them be simple, like 'draw two cards' for manipulate 2. But that doesn't get rid of the clunkiness of the mechanic. Thanks for the help!
Hey, I've noticed this thread has been pretty inactive. I've been working on my cube for maybe the last year (or so) and have 390 cards made, with many more that I came up with or took from the Print this Wizards thread (and here). Any ideas how I can post the card images from my cube without clogging the thread too much?
Also, NathanZimmerer, that Phyrexian Well might be excessively strong, but only playing it will see. The Custom Cube by Ali Aintrazi and Justin Parnell had a similar card in green, but that took 2 mana and one mana to use each time it sacrificed a creature. Maybe the well should have to pay B or 1 every time you use it. Rhox Purifier is a awesome card (I put it in my cube too). The Goblin Charge-Caller feels weird without haste considering it gives it, but would be too powerful as a 2 power haste guy. The others seem fine.
So, being inspired by echo, I wanted to try to do something like a reverse-echo. Any thoughts on this mechanic:
Manipulate COST , EFFECT; (At the beginning of your opponent’s next upkeep after this card enters the battlefield under your control, activate this ability unless an opponent pays its manipulate cost.)
I really like Sigarda, Host of Herons a lot. I imagine that he will at the very least be a sideboard card for pod to beat control even easier as a singleton or so. I actually am glad he is green because now he is an awesome green sun zenith target.
As for the rest, i really don't know what to think. However, if I am correct, Restoration Angel can combo with Phyrexian Metamorph or any clone card and Suture Priest for infinite life. Probably not good enough for competitive play, but still cool.
I really think that NPH will help the UB version of Tezz a lot. Last time that I posted my list, apparently i forgot to put in my creeping tar pits. Guess I was too busy to finish that post:). Anyway, I playtested with that list and decided it wasn't fitting my standards, so I went back to my first list and tweaked it. Here is the result:
So far, I haven't tested with any NPH cards yet, but the main cards I am looking at for this list would be Marrow Shards, Hex Parasite, dispense, and Phyrexian Metamorph.
My reason for Marrow shards would be that RDW seems like a very tough mu and being able to pay 2 life to kill an entire board of kuldotha tokens seems pretty good. Phyrexian Metamorph looks really good to copy key cards for each matchup (like tumble magnet in caw-blade). Dispense is a good replacement for duress, and hex parasite seems like a potentially good card with trinket mage (if possible to fit in the deck) to make it easier to put pressure on pws from Cawblade.
Been following the forums for about the last 20 pages or so and I noticed there was a lot more focus on grixis decks than just plain u/b. The reason I am testing u/b is to go for the colorless lands much like eldrazi green. I am hoping i can get some critique on this list.
Mystifying Maze: this card is a great mana dump late game, and also is good at forcing an unequip on a sworded hawk.
Ichor Wellspring: once animated by tezz, it is almost a jace's ingenuity. One draw when it comes into play, one when it leaves, and eating an opponent's removal or attacking for the win, it seems really powerful late game. Of course, by itself it is worse than prophetic prism, so it may see the cut.
Inquisition over Preordain: this deck is more consistent than the grixis version from the testing I have done, so preordain is less important. Also, I have won too many matches using inquisition to snatch a sword or stoneforge for me to cut it.
My sideboard is still a work in progress sadly.
I like those spell options. Probably the first two and the fourth one would be the best, as we kind of have a tutor with beseech the queen anyway and the barter in blood version is almost for sure a bit too strong though for the triple black cost or 4 mana cost. The 3 creatures version looks cool too.
I really like Veldrane's Courier being a combo of vampire nighthawk and entomb. Seems just about right for the cost, or maybe a tiny bit weak for 4 mana compared to the nighthawk, but that flexibility means it is probably perfect.
On the topic of the enchantment that returns a creature from a graveyard to the battlefield with cumulative upkeep by DrDRum, I thought up this card that I think fits along with the idea well:
Borrowed Life 1B
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature card from the graveyard with a -1/-1 counter on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control with a -1/-1 counter on it.
I made this because Cumulative upkeep is a complicated ability to tack onto a animate dead, which is complicated enough with its official oracle card rules text (9 lines of text total, with around 6 lines JUST to make the enchant creature in graveyard clause work with bringing it back to the battlefield).
Now for another idea of mine: I really wanted to help mono color decks over some of the tri-color decks that get support in cube (and create some more interesting choices) so I decided to create a (2/U)(2/U)U cycle. That way the card would be REALLY good with its 3 color mode, decent with its 2UU mode, and meh with its 4U mode. That way, it would fit into decks that are going heavy into the color without having the BBB problem associated with some of black's cards.
{Needs a name} (2/U)(2/U)U
Instant
Counter target spell.
draw a card.
Seasonal Growth (2/G)(2/G)G
Sorcery
Put four 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Pureblade Angel (2/W)(2/W)W
Creature - Angel
Flying, Vigilance
3/4
Skizzik (2/R)(2/R)R
Creature - Elemental
When Skizzik enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to target creature.
3/3
The thing is, I can't think up a good black mana card for this cycle that would be good enough for cube and not just a murder + some other effect or shriekmaw-type card. Any ideas, or if this seems like a bad idea? Also, considered swapping the token-making ability to white (in the vein of spectral procession) but didn't want two cards so similar to each other while making saproling tokens could support the gw token strategies in cube.
Firefury: I just looked through my cube and have a lot less of that mechanic than I originally did, so I'm going to cut it. I had around 25 to 30 cards of 405 with ____shift, but now have around 10 total, so I am just going to scrap it.
Gnoll Bloodkarn: Yep, that makes sense. Didn't think about Rogue Elephant. Would making the trigger deal 2 or 3 damage to its controller on a bad flip be overpowered considering red doesn't care as much about its life total? I would probably change it to " Whenever Gnoll Bloodkarn attacks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 2 damage to you."
Flame Lash: Thanks, proofreading 405 cards, plus the other 100 or so that I have as possible inclusions is tough.
Gnoll Bloodmage: For sure. It is supposed to be red's dark confidant, but it might be too good for sure with the abundance of burn in my cube right now.
Intuitive Tinkerer: I actually took this card straight from quitequiter's cube because it looked interesting. The change makes more sense with my cube though so I will do that.
Apostle of Magma: That makes sense, plus makes this guy nice for the sacrifice red black deck I was setting up as an archetype. Would making him a 3/1 make it overall more interesting, or do you think a 3/2 haste with upside is too good for 3 mana? I think that might be a bit too much.
Tartur Thief: I'm actually changing the manipulate mechanic probably to be something that triggers every turn, with smaller mana costs, and weaker abilities, or keep it kind of the way it is. This guy should probably just be the looting ability then on it entering the battlefield with no manipulate then.
Reckless Tactics: Done.
Static Shocks: Going to try at 5 just to see how it works, then buff it if it seems like red needs it to be.
Lightning Arc: I actually typed that one out wrong. It should be overload 2R, not 1R. That makes it a decent shock at sorcery speed, or a pyroclasm. Good flexibility for control decks, and decent burn for aggro to clear the way for creatures.
I've got a few good effects for sacrificing in other colors too (mainly black), and I'll upload the rest of my cube to imgur tonight so you guys can critique it. It really needs the fine tuning. The power level should be around modern level to legacy on the cards, with most at the modern level though.
Edit:
Ok, I uploaded the images here:
http://****thiscarp.imgur.com/
And I will keep updating this tonight until I put up all of my cube (maybe done in about 6 hours b/c I am leaving to watch a movie).)
http://imgur.com/a/kVoFb
Manipulate [Cost] - [Effect] (At the beginning of your opponent's upkeep after this card enters the battlefield under your control, activate this ability unless an opponent pays its manipulate cost.
It isn't quite as bad as suspend for card space, but that probably isn't the best mechanic to say it is better than. I'm just thinking of all the errata I would probably need to do to make the option that I like work. For example, no where on my card does it say what happens when the permanent is gone. It would be best if the ability didn't trigger if the permanent is gone, but that would be adding the if this permanent is on the battlefield clause, which would make it worse than suspend even.
The idea with this mechanic was to do strong effects, but have them be simple, like 'draw two cards' for manipulate 2. But that doesn't get rid of the clunkiness of the mechanic. Thanks for the help!
Also, NathanZimmerer, that Phyrexian Well might be excessively strong, but only playing it will see. The Custom Cube by Ali Aintrazi and Justin Parnell had a similar card in green, but that took 2 mana and one mana to use each time it sacrificed a creature. Maybe the well should have to pay B or 1 every time you use it. Rhox Purifier is a awesome card (I put it in my cube too). The Goblin Charge-Caller feels weird without haste considering it gives it, but would be too powerful as a 2 power haste guy. The others seem fine.
Manipulate COST , EFFECT; (At the beginning of your opponent’s next upkeep after this card enters the battlefield under your control, activate this ability unless an opponent pays its manipulate cost.)
Any suggestions to make it less clunky?
Excessive Growth G
Enchantment
G: Look at the top card of your library. If it is a land card, reveal it and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
I figured it would be cool to have a build around me ramp card. It is somewhat a mix between Mirri's Guile and Sensei's Divining Top.
Helix of Visions UU
Instant
As an additional cost to cast Helix of Visions, sacrifice one permanent.
Draw three cards.
What would make a balanced Ancestral Recall?
Lastly, I am trying to figure out the "balanced" mox:
Blood Mox 0
When Blood Mox enters the battlefield, sacrifice a nontoken permanent.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
As for the rest, i really don't know what to think. However, if I am correct, Restoration Angel can combo with Phyrexian Metamorph or any clone card and Suture Priest for infinite life. Probably not good enough for competitive play, but still cool.
UB Tezz:
So far, I haven't tested with any NPH cards yet, but the main cards I am looking at for this list would be Marrow Shards, Hex Parasite, dispense, and Phyrexian Metamorph.
My reason for Marrow shards would be that RDW seems like a very tough mu and being able to pay 2 life to kill an entire board of kuldotha tokens seems pretty good. Phyrexian Metamorph looks really good to copy key cards for each matchup (like tumble magnet in caw-blade). Dispense is a good replacement for duress, and hex parasite seems like a potentially good card with trinket mage (if possible to fit in the deck) to make it easier to put pressure on pws from Cawblade.
Notes on my deck:
Mystifying Maze: this card is a great mana dump late game, and also is good at forcing an unequip on a sworded hawk.
Ichor Wellspring: once animated by tezz, it is almost a jace's ingenuity. One draw when it comes into play, one when it leaves, and eating an opponent's removal or attacking for the win, it seems really powerful late game. Of course, by itself it is worse than prophetic prism, so it may see the cut.
Inquisition over Preordain: this deck is more consistent than the grixis version from the testing I have done, so preordain is less important. Also, I have won too many matches using inquisition to snatch a sword or stoneforge for me to cut it.
My sideboard is still a work in progress sadly.