It's been awhile since I've tried to design a set.
I'm toying with the idea of designing a Commander box set, like the five decks Wizards released last year. I like the idea of designing cards specifically for EDH without worrying about the consequences in Standard or Limited.
So first I am brainstorming some keywords. I want some Commander and Multiplayer-specific keywords. Join Forces was OK, but it only went on 5 cards and ended up falling flat, IMO. I want my mechanics to function properly in single player, too, however.
Here are a few I have bouncing around in my head. Let me know which ones you like. I probably won't use more than one or two of these. (Please ignore the actual card, just critique the keyword.)
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Inspired — (extra effect) if your commander is on the battlefield.
ScorchR
Instant
Scorch deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Inspired — Scorch deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead if your commander is on the battlefield.
This mechanic seems pretty straightforward and I like it pretty well.
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Betray X (X: Attach this aura to another target opponent. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.)
Empty Dreams4B
Enchantment - Aura Curse
Enchant player
At the end of enchanted player's turn, that player discards a card.
Betray 3B(3B: Attach this aura to another target opponent. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.)
I really want a mechanic like this, but I think this current version is too narrow. I mean, it only works with curses. How can I do something like this with more design space?
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Chivalry (You may assign this creature as a blocker during other player's turns and when you are not the defending player.)
Advocate of Peace3WW
Creature - Angel
Flying, vigilance
Chivalry (You may assign this creature as a blocker during other players' turns and when you are not the defending player.)
5/5
Clunky reminder text, but the idea is straightforward. Flavour-wise, this really doesn't suit any colour but white, though.
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Pay tribute (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may choose one: pay 5 life; or discard a card; or sacrifice a creature.)
Big, Scary Demon3BB
Creature - Demon
Pay tribute (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may choose one: pay 5 life; or discard a card; or sacrifice a creature.)
As Big, Scary Demon enters the battlefield, put five +1/+1 counters on it unless each opponent paid tribute.
Flying, trample
4/4
Super clunky reminder text, and tricky rules involved. Can someone reword that for me? Would I have to clarify what order people people choose to pay tribute in? The idea is that the last player can choose to not pay, making tributes by previous players meaningless. It only works if everyone participates.
And yeah, this mechanic unfortunately doesn't scale into single-player well at all. Oh well.
Also, I could probably rename this ability so it doesn't feel so black-only.
v2
Pay tribute X. (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may pay X.)
Uncontrollable Wildfires4RR
Sorcery
Pay tribute — Sacrifice two lands. (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may sacrifice two lands.)
Uncontrollable Wildfires deals 1 damage to each player for each land he or she controls. Repeat this effect unless each opponent paid tribute.
A slightly less clunky version, and it comes with more design space and more room to spread into the other colors. But I dunno, I like the interesting choices the other version presents.
Betray doesn't make sense i think... what is its point? maybe make it so any player may pay the cost to attach it to anyone but the original caster? I love chivalry and inspire, and i agree that tribute needs work... you should specify an order for enemies to be hit and for the current card you have up maybe you should make it a 1 shot that stops when an opponent pays tribute instead of looping until all pay it, or make it so that if they pay tribute they are immune to further effects. With that, you don;t get punished by other players being stubborn.
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Cautuon: my confusion is contaigous
Originally Posted by luminum can
Because the multiverse loves to kill goblins. Only on Mercadia are they safe.
I don't like inspired. Anything that game-specific shouldn't be printed. Command Tower is an exception; it's just one card, after all, not an entire mechanic. Maybe it can be "Inspire - If you control a legendary creature, [EFFECT]." Also, I don't like having inspire as the mechanic's name, I think there can be a better word for that.
Like manianiac said, betray is kind of a useless mechanic, and the name isn't very good ever. First off, I think it should remain a curse, but you don't have it keep it a mechanic for any reason. Just have it as "[COST]: Attach to another target player".
I like chivalry a lot.
Pay Tribute is kind of ugly and clunky, and has too much going on for it to be a mechanic, at least in my opinion. v2 is much more cleaner, but seems a bit too versatile to be a mechanic. I like how its almost like reverse join forces.
The reason I drew up Betray and Pay tribute was because I wanted an activated keyword ability, and I really wanted a keyword which was multiplayer-specific. I think I will scrap Betray. It started off as a cool idea in my head, but it came out really bad.
I still think there's a way to make Pay tribute work. The concept behind it is that you are forcing all of your opponents to work together to deal with a problem. The problem will only lessen if they agree to cooperate and pay their dues. It really fits the bill for the multiplayer mechanic I am looking for... if I can get it to work.
It started off in my head like this:
Nasty Beastie4GG
Creature - Beast
Pay tribute 2(Any player may pay 2 to put a tribute counter on this card.) Trample
Nasty Beastie gets -6/-6 if it has ten tribute counters on it.
10/10
But in this version, it scales horribly for varying player numbers. That it, this is too powerful in 1v1, and too weak in 6-player free-for-all. Also, I can't use it for instants and sorceries.
So any suggestions on how to make this work?
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EDH Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video) Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video) Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video) BShirei (video) WURasputin (video) (retired) RUrabrask (video) WURZedruu (video) (retired) WIsamaru UBGrimgrin UMistform Ultimus (video) UBRGwendlyn (video) URGAnimar (video) RGThromok WBSelenia Standard WUGeist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired) WUB Battle of Wits!
Chivalry & Inspired are both very nice, but chivalry seems like it would only belong on white cards or knights...
Chivalry (At the beginning of the declare blockers step, if this creature isn't blocking a creature, choose up to one creature that this creature could block. That creature becomes blocked by this one.)
It works without changing any rules, but it's an awful lot of text.
Pay tribute is also pretty cool, but it seems more like an Archenemy mechanic than a Commander one.
In general, I greatly despise the idea of having commander specific keywords. One part of (at least my personal) design philosophy is that you have to design for every format. Even though certain cards are obviously meant for multiplayer formats, they should still be designed to work in a standard game if that player so chooses. (Command Tower is exempt for other reasons.)
Because of this, I dislike inspired since it only works in commander games. What if instead it triggered on you controlling a legendary creature?
Also, when I say design for every format, I mean mechanically not power-level wise. You can certainly print cards that are powerful enough to break standard in half if you want, but mechanics that only work specifically for commander are something to stay away from IMO. (Remember, there are people who like to deconstruct their commander decks for casual or cube materials.)
Betray has been discussed above.
Chivalry is fine but really only fits in white. (And again, it has the "only works in mutiplayer" problem. Remember, even Join Forces works in a 2 player game.)
Pay tribute really feels like an archenemy mechanic. You're basically putting schemes onto normal cards.
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"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
Inspired - Could just be "[if/as long as] you control a legendary creature" if you want it to be compatible with normal Magic.
Betray - The general idea has been done before: Jinxed Choker, Jinxed Idol, Jinxed Ring, Measure of Wickedness. The cost to pass the hot potatoe should be colorless or nonmana. There should only be one or two cards like this in your set, aso not nearly enough to warrant it being keyworded.
Chivalry - (This creature can block creatures your opponents control that are attacking another player.)
Definitely white. Could fit in green too. Maybe red or blue. Black is the only color that feel like it should definitely be excluded.
Tribute - The idea is interesting, but probably too clunky. It would be better if the costs could vary on the different cards. Maybe just an ability word and a triggered ability like Menacing Ogre or Goblin Game. Tribute - When CARDNAME enters the field, each opponent secretly chooses "yes" or "no". Then those choices are revealed. Each player that chose "yes" loses 5 life unless he or she sacrifices a creature. If one or more players chose "no", put five +1/+1 counters on CARDNAME.
I'm tinkering with a variant of Kicker in which opponents can pay the cost. Seems exciting for multiplayer. Lets call it Augment. (Better name suggestions welcome.)
Just throwing ideas out there in the hopes that one of these is close to what I'm looking for and someone can help me tweak it!
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version 1
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any player may pay X.)
Twinborn Montrosity4GG
Creature - Beast
Augment 4
When Twinborn Monstrosity enters the battlefield, each player who paid the Augment cost puts a token that's a copy of Twinborn Monstrosity onto the battlefield.
Whenever Twinborn Monstrosity deals combat damage to a player, draw a card for each creature you control.
6/6
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version 2
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay X.)
Yeah, same deal but only opponents can pay it.
Drawback Angel3WW
Creature - Angel
Augment 2 (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay 2.)
Flying, vigilance
When Drawback Angel enters the battlefield, each player who paid the Augment cost gains 5 life.
6/7
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version 3
If I use a more generic keyword, I can fold this ability into the previous Pay Tribute attempts.
version x
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay X.)
Demonpants2BBB
Creature - Demon
Augment -- Sacrifice a creature (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay sacrifice a creature.) When Demonpants enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it and draw a card for each opponent who didn't pay the Augment cost.
Flying
3/3
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EDH Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video) Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video) Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video) BShirei (video) WURasputin (video) (retired) RUrabrask (video) WURZedruu (video) (retired) WIsamaru UBGrimgrin UMistform Ultimus (video) UBRGwendlyn (video) URGAnimar (video) RGThromok WBSelenia Standard WUGeist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired) WUB Battle of Wits!
The word tribute is a really good because it can be used as a verb similar to "Equip only as a sorcery."
You could do the version three example card with the version one mechanic.
Demonpants2BBB Creature - Demon
Tribute -- Sacrifice a creature (When you cast this spell, each player may choose to tribute.)
When Demonpants enters the battlefield, for each opponent who chose not to tribute* and for you and each of your teammates** that did tribute, put a +1/+1 counter on Demonpants and draw a card.
Flying
3/3
*Right now I see a small weirdness when it is put directly onto the field with something like Elvish Piper. With augment v3, If your opponents don't get a chance to choose whether or not to pay the augment cost, then you would automatically get the benefit as though they chose not to pay. I'm trying to address that by building in a restriction that lets you get the benefits only if the tribute ability triggered and resolved and players actually chose to pay or to not pay.
That problem could also be solved by making it a single enter triggered ability, but then it would only be able to fit on permanents. Tribute -- When Demonpants enters the battlefield, each player may sacrifice a creature. For each opponent that doesn't and for you and each of your teammates that do, put a +1/+1 counter on Demonpants and draw a card.
**Reversing it with you and your teammates allows for some Organ Harvest-style fun in teamed games. I really want a simpler way of wording this kind of grouping. Is there a shorter way that could be used cleanly to refer to "you and each of your teammates"?
There could be some cards like the Augment v1 example where each player that pays the cost gets a beneficial effect, or you get all the effect when your opponents chose not to pay and you and your teammates do pay.
I'm toying with the idea of designing a Commander box set, like the five decks Wizards released last year. I like the idea of designing cards specifically for EDH without worrying about the consequences in Standard or Limited.
So first I am brainstorming some keywords. I want some Commander and Multiplayer-specific keywords. Join Forces was OK, but it only went on 5 cards and ended up falling flat, IMO. I want my mechanics to function properly in single player, too, however.
Here are a few I have bouncing around in my head. Let me know which ones you like. I probably won't use more than one or two of these. (Please ignore the actual card, just critique the keyword.)
---
Inspired — (extra effect) if your commander is on the battlefield.
Instant
Scorch deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Inspired — Scorch deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead if your commander is on the battlefield.
This mechanic seems pretty straightforward and I like it pretty well.
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Betray X (X: Attach this aura to another target opponent. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.)
Enchantment - Aura Curse
Enchant player
At the end of enchanted player's turn, that player discards a card.
Betray 3B (3B: Attach this aura to another target opponent. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.)
I really want a mechanic like this, but I think this current version is too narrow. I mean, it only works with curses. How can I do something like this with more design space?
---
Chivalry (You may assign this creature as a blocker during other player's turns and when you are not the defending player.)
Creature - Angel
Flying, vigilance
Chivalry (You may assign this creature as a blocker during other players' turns and when you are not the defending player.)
5/5
Clunky reminder text, but the idea is straightforward. Flavour-wise, this really doesn't suit any colour but white, though.
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Pay tribute (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may choose one: pay 5 life; or discard a card; or sacrifice a creature.)
Creature - Demon
Pay tribute (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may choose one: pay 5 life; or discard a card; or sacrifice a creature.)
As Big, Scary Demon enters the battlefield, put five +1/+1 counters on it unless each opponent paid tribute.
Flying, trample
4/4
Super clunky reminder text, and tricky rules involved. Can someone reword that for me? Would I have to clarify what order people people choose to pay tribute in? The idea is that the last player can choose to not pay, making tributes by previous players meaningless. It only works if everyone participates.
And yeah, this mechanic unfortunately doesn't scale into single-player well at all. Oh well.
Also, I could probably rename this ability so it doesn't feel so black-only.
v2
Pay tribute X. (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may pay X.)
Sorcery
Pay tribute — Sacrifice two lands. (As this spell is cast, each opponent, in order, may sacrifice two lands.)
Uncontrollable Wildfires deals 1 damage to each player for each land he or she controls. Repeat this effect unless each opponent paid tribute.
A slightly less clunky version, and it comes with more design space and more room to spread into the other colors. But I dunno, I like the interesting choices the other version presents.
More later, maybe
EDH
Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video)
Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video)
Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video)
B Shirei (video)
WU Rasputin (video) (retired)
R Urabrask (video)
WUR Zedruu (video) (retired)
W Isamaru
UB Grimgrin
U Mistform Ultimus (video)
UBR Gwendlyn (video)
URG Animar (video)
RG Thromok
WB Selenia
Standard
WU Geist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired)
WUB Battle of Wits!
Like manianiac said, betray is kind of a useless mechanic, and the name isn't very good ever. First off, I think it should remain a curse, but you don't have it keep it a mechanic for any reason. Just have it as "[COST]: Attach to another target player".
I like chivalry a lot.
Pay Tribute is kind of ugly and clunky, and has too much going on for it to be a mechanic, at least in my opinion. v2 is much more cleaner, but seems a bit too versatile to be a mechanic. I like how its almost like reverse join forces.
The reason I drew up Betray and Pay tribute was because I wanted an activated keyword ability, and I really wanted a keyword which was multiplayer-specific. I think I will scrap Betray. It started off as a cool idea in my head, but it came out really bad.
I still think there's a way to make Pay tribute work. The concept behind it is that you are forcing all of your opponents to work together to deal with a problem. The problem will only lessen if they agree to cooperate and pay their dues. It really fits the bill for the multiplayer mechanic I am looking for... if I can get it to work.
It started off in my head like this:
Nasty Beastie 4GG
Creature - Beast
Pay tribute 2 (Any player may pay 2 to put a tribute counter on this card.)
Trample
Nasty Beastie gets -6/-6 if it has ten tribute counters on it.
10/10
But in this version, it scales horribly for varying player numbers. That it, this is too powerful in 1v1, and too weak in 6-player free-for-all. Also, I can't use it for instants and sorceries.
So any suggestions on how to make this work?
EDH
Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video)
Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video)
Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video)
B Shirei (video)
WU Rasputin (video) (retired)
R Urabrask (video)
WUR Zedruu (video) (retired)
W Isamaru
UB Grimgrin
U Mistform Ultimus (video)
UBR Gwendlyn (video)
URG Animar (video)
RG Thromok
WB Selenia
Standard
WU Geist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired)
WUB Battle of Wits!
Chivalry (At the beginning of the declare blockers step, if this creature isn't blocking a creature, choose up to one creature that this creature could block. That creature becomes blocked by this one.)
It works without changing any rules, but it's an awful lot of text.
Pay tribute is also pretty cool, but it seems more like an Archenemy mechanic than a Commander one.
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch | Maga, Traitor to Mortals | Mayael the Anima | Rafiq of the Many | Rhys the Redeemed
Sasaya, Oorochi Ascendant | Sygg, River Cutthroat | Thada Adel, Acquisitor | Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Because of this, I dislike inspired since it only works in commander games. What if instead it triggered on you controlling a legendary creature?
Also, when I say design for every format, I mean mechanically not power-level wise. You can certainly print cards that are powerful enough to break standard in half if you want, but mechanics that only work specifically for commander are something to stay away from IMO. (Remember, there are people who like to deconstruct their commander decks for casual or cube materials.)
Betray has been discussed above.
Chivalry is fine but really only fits in white. (And again, it has the "only works in mutiplayer" problem. Remember, even Join Forces works in a 2 player game.)
Pay tribute really feels like an archenemy mechanic. You're basically putting schemes onto normal cards.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing
Betray - The general idea has been done before: Jinxed Choker, Jinxed Idol, Jinxed Ring, Measure of Wickedness. The cost to pass the hot potatoe should be colorless or nonmana. There should only be one or two cards like this in your set, aso not nearly enough to warrant it being keyworded.
Chivalry - (This creature can block creatures your opponents control that are attacking another player.)
Definitely white. Could fit in green too. Maybe red or blue. Black is the only color that feel like it should definitely be excluded.
Tribute - The idea is interesting, but probably too clunky. It would be better if the costs could vary on the different cards. Maybe just an ability word and a triggered ability like Menacing Ogre or Goblin Game.
Tribute - When CARDNAME enters the field, each opponent secretly chooses "yes" or "no". Then those choices are revealed. Each player that chose "yes" loses 5 life unless he or she sacrifices a creature. If one or more players chose "no", put five +1/+1 counters on CARDNAME.
Just throwing ideas out there in the hopes that one of these is close to what I'm looking for and someone can help me tweak it!
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version 1
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any player may pay X.)
Creature - Beast
Augment 4
When Twinborn Monstrosity enters the battlefield, each player who paid the Augment cost puts a token that's a copy of Twinborn Monstrosity onto the battlefield.
Whenever Twinborn Monstrosity deals combat damage to a player, draw a card for each creature you control.
6/6
---
version 2
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay X.)
Yeah, same deal but only opponents can pay it.
Creature - Angel
Augment 2 (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay 2.)
Flying, vigilance
When Drawback Angel enters the battlefield, each player who paid the Augment cost gains 5 life.
6/7
---
version 3
If I use a more generic keyword, I can fold this ability into the previous Pay Tribute attempts.
version x
Augment X (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay X.)
Creature - Demon
Augment -- Sacrifice a creature (When you cast this spell, any opponent may pay sacrifice a creature.)
When Demonpants enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it and draw a card for each opponent who didn't pay the Augment cost.
Flying
3/3
EDH
Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video)
Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video)
Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video)
B Shirei (video)
WU Rasputin (video) (retired)
R Urabrask (video)
WUR Zedruu (video) (retired)
W Isamaru
UB Grimgrin
U Mistform Ultimus (video)
UBR Gwendlyn (video)
URG Animar (video)
RG Thromok
WB Selenia
Standard
WU Geist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired)
WUB Battle of Wits!
You could do the version three example card with the version one mechanic.
Demonpants 2BBB
Creature - Demon
Tribute -- Sacrifice a creature (When you cast this spell, each player may choose to tribute.)
When Demonpants enters the battlefield, for each opponent who chose not to tribute* and for you and each of your teammates** that did tribute, put a +1/+1 counter on Demonpants and draw a card.
Flying
3/3
*Right now I see a small weirdness when it is put directly onto the field with something like Elvish Piper. With augment v3, If your opponents don't get a chance to choose whether or not to pay the augment cost, then you would automatically get the benefit as though they chose not to pay. I'm trying to address that by building in a restriction that lets you get the benefits only if the tribute ability triggered and resolved and players actually chose to pay or to not pay.
That problem could also be solved by making it a single enter triggered ability, but then it would only be able to fit on permanents.
Tribute -- When Demonpants enters the battlefield, each player may sacrifice a creature. For each opponent that doesn't and for you and each of your teammates that do, put a +1/+1 counter on Demonpants and draw a card.
**Reversing it with you and your teammates allows for some Organ Harvest-style fun in teamed games. I really want a simpler way of wording this kind of grouping. Is there a shorter way that could be used cleanly to refer to "you and each of your teammates"?
There could be some cards like the Augment v1 example where each player that pays the cost gets a beneficial effect, or you get all the effect when your opponents chose not to pay and you and your teammates do pay.