"Whenever" makes me think you mean to have this be a recurring thing. As it stands, the triggered ability will activate and allow you to cast the card. The card will then be put into the graveyard (typically). When the next trigger occurs, it will look for the exiled card, and not find it (so do nothing). If, for some reason, the card is exiled upon it resolving, the trigger will still not find it, as it will be a different instance. Of course, there's also the issue of lands.
With a 4/4 body I would expect you did not mean it to recur. If you do, you should cast a copy of the spell (which will cause issues for tokens).
More rules friendly Mystic Elephant1RWU
Creature — Elephant (Uncommon)
When Mystic Elephant enters the battlefield shuffle your library, then reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a non-land card. Exile that card, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
When Mystic Elephant deals combat damage to a player, you may cast the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
4/4
Alternatively, if you lands cards to work, just change 'cast' to 'play'.
"Whenever" is reserved for trigger conditions that can happen multiple times, such as dealing combat damage, a counter being removed, etc. "When", on the other hand, is used for trigger conditions that can only happen once for that object, such as entering the battlefield, dying, etc. The latter is also used for state-based triggers, such as Dark Depths. The effect of the triggered ability has no bearing on whether or not "when" or "whenever" is used.
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How to use card tags (please use them for everybody's sanity)
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format Minimum deck size: 60 Maximum number of identical cards: 4 Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
@Eredith Driscol: All of your assumptions about how this works are correct. You get to cast a free spell, not a land, and you can only cast it once. However, you get an opportunity to cast the spell every time the Elephant connects for damage, and you don't HAVE to cash in on that opportunity the first time (even if you probably will.)
So, it's more of a question of "Does this make intuitive sense?" and not "Are the rules doing what I want them to do?", because the rules are doing their job, here. However, I'm concerned that people might misplay the ability, thinking it creates copies or allows you to play lands.
Seems like a really bad Jeleva. She lets you stack, gets you four, gets them off of your opponents' decks as well, doesn't have to connect in combat, has evasion, and can cast up to eight spells in a duel or upwards of a dozen in multiplayer from coming into play just once, and that means you have tons of options.
This guy casts one completely random spell once, if you even get lucky and exile a spell.
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Guesswork: Good to know my reading of the card was correct. To be clear, were you intending that, if a land to be the top card of the library, it would just be exiled? If so, all is well, if a bit confusing to read. If not, what was your intention in such a case?
Otherwise, the card seems fine color- and power-wise. The flavor seems drier than some others, but that's not a bad thing (especially for times when cards may need to be reprinted).
To be clear, were you intending that, if a land to be the top card of the library, it would just be exiled?
Yep. If you exile a land, this whiffs. Compare to the rulings on Daxos of Meletis.
It's not that I hate lands, it's more a case that allowing this to let you "play" lands probably raises more questions than it answers. Does it get around your land-per-turn limit? (No.) Does it actually work, in conjunction with the timing restrictions for playing lands? (Yes.)
However, the Hideaway lands let you do this, so maybe I could consider "play". What do you think?
This is a really nice design. I love the effect and flavor, but it doesn't taste like your set.
Thanks! And, fair.
RWU is challenging for me, flavor-wise. That triad in particular just seems like a big flavor contradiction. I'd listen to anybody's better ideas. There's no reason this has to be one tribe or another.
Thanks for the clarification. I'd rather see this play more similarly to Daxos than to the hideaway lands (where lands are lost, but you can cast the card until end of turn). Of course, outside of the end of combat step you're pretty well back to the main phase already, so I'm less worried about the timing restriction. I'm okay with losing the lands.
I, personally, wouldn't mind this being a Minotaur (being a Zedruu player). I could see the flavor of a creature who enjoys a good scrap, but has one good trick up its sleeve. It might also be interesting if the last ability was worded "If ~ would deal combat damage to a player, you may instead cast the exiled card without paying its mana cost." It adds tension, and perhaps some politics.
Could we move the nonland clause to the second ability? I liked not having to draw a land as a consolation for whiffing, and now you have to sit there with you and your opponent both knowing you're about to draw a land. A small dose of the Sage Owl effect perhaps, but more than needed. (I realize that sometimes you do want to draw a land, but that's less common once you've hit 1RWU)
Edit: After shifting to the second ability having the nonland, the first could just become a may. Then you get some benefit anyway.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
Could we move the nonland clause to the second ability?
I could, but it gets wordy and fussy.
Some players have a higher tolerance for chance, and for mechanics that have a potential downside. But since this is going to whiff in a very clunky fashion about 1/3 of the time, the path of least resistance may in fact be:
Ogre Mystic1URG
Creature - Ogre Shaman [U]
When Ogre Mystic enters the battlefield, shuffle your library, then exile the top card.
Whenever Ogre Mystic deals combat damage to a player, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
[4/4]
In other words, allowing you to play the land. And changing colors to the URG wedge.
Why is the shuffle clause necessary? What are you worried about?
It's not that I'm worried about topdeck manipulation "breaking" this card. Rather, I'm interested in promoting other kinds of library interaction besides topdeck manipulation.
With this, you're playing a game of statistics. What are the chances that you'll exile a card with Quality X? Quality Y? I want players to think about the composition of their entire deck, not just how they can get the right combo piece to the top of it. There are lots of other cards that do topdeck stuff (even some already in my set.)
Creature — Ogre Shaman [U]
When Ogre Mystic enters the battlefield, shuffle your library, then exile the top card.
Whenever Ogre Mystic deals combat damage to a player, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
[4/4]
With a 4/4 body I would expect you did not mean it to recur. If you do, you should cast a copy of the spell (which will cause issues for tokens).
Alternatively, if you lands cards to work, just change 'cast' to 'play'.
[c]Lightning Bolt[/c] -> Lightning Bolt
[c=Lightning Bolt]Apple Pie[/c] -> Apple Pie
Vowels-Only Format
Minimum deck size: 60
Maximum number of identical cards: 4
Ban list: Cards whose English names begin with a consonant, Unglued and Unhinged cards, cards involving ante, Ancestral Recall
So, it's more of a question of "Does this make intuitive sense?" and not "Are the rules doing what I want them to do?", because the rules are doing their job, here. However, I'm concerned that people might misplay the ability, thinking it creates copies or allows you to play lands.
This guy casts one completely random spell once, if you even get lucky and exile a spell.
Guesswork: Good to know my reading of the card was correct. To be clear, were you intending that, if a land to be the top card of the library, it would just be exiled? If so, all is well, if a bit confusing to read. If not, what was your intention in such a case?
Otherwise, the card seems fine color- and power-wise. The flavor seems drier than some others, but that's not a bad thing (especially for times when cards may need to be reprinted).
And Elephant is a bad ingredient for this recipe of colors in any theme, not just your set's.
Imo, it should be a RGW Elephant (but I doubt that's what you want given the sets enemy wedge thingy), or it shouldn't be an Elephant at all.
Yep. If you exile a land, this whiffs. Compare to the rulings on Daxos of Meletis.
It's not that I hate lands, it's more a case that allowing this to let you "play" lands probably raises more questions than it answers. Does it get around your land-per-turn limit? (No.) Does it actually work, in conjunction with the timing restrictions for playing lands? (Yes.)
However, the Hideaway lands let you do this, so maybe I could consider "play". What do you think?
Thanks! And, fair.
RWU is challenging for me, flavor-wise. That triad in particular just seems like a big flavor contradiction. I'd listen to anybody's better ideas. There's no reason this has to be one tribe or another.
I, personally, wouldn't mind this being a Minotaur (being a Zedruu player). I could see the flavor of a creature who enjoys a good scrap, but has one good trick up its sleeve. It might also be interesting if the last ability was worded "If ~ would deal combat damage to a player, you may instead cast the exiled card without paying its mana cost." It adds tension, and perhaps some politics.
Mystic Minotaur
it even has a nice ring to it
I also re-worded the first ability to eliminate ambiguity about lands.
Edit: After shifting to the second ability having the nonland, the first could just become a may. Then you get some benefit anyway.
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(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
I could, but it gets wordy and fussy.
Some players have a higher tolerance for chance, and for mechanics that have a potential downside. But since this is going to whiff in a very clunky fashion about 1/3 of the time, the path of least resistance may in fact be:
Creature - Ogre Shaman [U]
When Ogre Mystic enters the battlefield, shuffle your library, then exile the top card.
Whenever Ogre Mystic deals combat damage to a player, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
[4/4]
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
It's not that I'm worried about topdeck manipulation "breaking" this card. Rather, I'm interested in promoting other kinds of library interaction besides topdeck manipulation.
With this, you're playing a game of statistics. What are the chances that you'll exile a card with Quality X? Quality Y? I want players to think about the composition of their entire deck, not just how they can get the right combo piece to the top of it. There are lots of other cards that do topdeck stuff (even some already in my set.)
It's an ogre. He casts his spell completely at random.
That's also a good flavor reason.
Now we have to ask if this ogre should have two heads!
If you do use it to play a land, it counts as your land drop for the turn right?
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
Yes. And if you've already played a land, this ability does not allow you to play another one.
Touché!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Would an "until end of turn" clause help with rules confusion issues by getting rid of the midcombat land play?
It also makes purely reactive cards like counterspells not a complete whiff on the trigger.
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