/ccg/ Custom Card General /cct/

Are you the seize guy? I'm still thinking of alternatives on the mechanic.

Have at it. I hope you have better luck than I did. What you have so far seems like it's pretty decent. Having it just be a theme instead of an actual keyword action is probably the way to go; I'm just obsessed with making things into keywords and action words and stuff. And being shit at card design too, I guess.

I never really thought about the 'looking left' thing till you mentioned it. I had heard it brought up once or twice but apparently that's actually a thing. Huh.

>obscure creature types
I think it's safe to assume that only Kamigawa did Samurai.
I tried making the flipcard but the site doesn't work.
The flipcard is
Amidamaru, spirit of the sword
Legendary Enchantment
Enchanted creature gets +6/+6,first strike, and lifelink
if enchanted creature becomes unequipped, sacrifice Amidamaru, spirit of the sword

It's really weird how even as a creature, this guy basically acts like an Equipment.

Possess, possesses, possessed

I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. Does the creature get +5/+5 and first strike from Amidamaru's ability *and* +6/+6 from the aura he transforms into?

Also you're using equip in a few places but neither side is an equipment. I think you want 'attach', which is the more generic verb that auras and equipment do to things.

If you look at Soul Seizer, the wording you probably want is...

Possess (Tap an untapped Shaman you control: Transform this creature and attach it to target creature you control.)

And then the flip side is an aura that gives +6/+6, first strike, and lifelink.

>Obscure creature types edition! (Alternatively: Commanders for tribes that don't have commanders edition!)

It is a crime that there is not a Legendary Blue and Black Ninja. This design might be way too good for its mana costs, but whatever.

This is just dumb and uninteresting.

This is neat. Probably not common though.

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>dumb and uninteresting.
Thanks for the constructive criticism. I can really improve the card design with that kind of feedback!

I personally think it takes the Ninjutsu subgame to its most extreme level which I find interesting. Would it actually be fun to play with or against? Maybe not. Suggest something that is similar in 'wow thats scary better not let an attacker get in' power level but more interesting. Keep in mind we already have Ninjas that tutor, draw, discard, bounce, steal cards, and reanimate dead creatures. What Blue/Black effect would be worthy or the Legendary Ninja?

Not him, but it is dumb and uninteresting. It's a creature with no nuance or strategy that just says
>4UUBB: If your opponent can't respond to this immediately, they lose.

It would be like making a sorcery that says "Target player loses the game." It's not fun or interesting.

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Alright. I think I thought of something thats more interesting and fun. I'm making it now so give me a moment.

Personally, a ninja commander should be doing something that supports your other ninja instead of just having the biggest possible ninjutsu effect.

What, really? Give it DStrike for a Plains instead.

>When ~ enters the battlefield attacking or attacks
Bleh, really bad, but I think that works. Your wording doesn't take into account, say, getting it onto the battlefield when you're being attacked.

It should also do something that's blue and black.

Alright, here is my redesign with something that is on color for Blue/Black and also probably super sweet in Commander.

Had an idea. On a side note, I really hate that Coke dropped Full Throttle for Monster.

That's eight mana before the creature dies. How often is anyone going to spend BBBBRRRR?

I'd do "{B/R}: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1" etc, which lets you either use it as a haste+shade effect or spend 2+4 to remove a creature.

"cast those cards", they're not spells until they're on the stack.

I still don't like that he's just a very strong ninja instead of playing some kind of support role (although it depends on what you take, I guess). I'm also a little wary of anything that will have you searching and shuffling libraries every turn.

What about "When ~ deals combat damage to a player, that player sacrifices a creature. If a creature was sacrificed this way, create a token that's a copy of it."? It swings combats in your direction to get more ninjas through, and copies of mediocre creatures would make good ninjutsu targets.

In hindsight I should have just had the effect exile the top X cards to avoid the shuffling thing. I'll probably adjust it.

I like your idea as well.

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Throwing my attempt at a Ninja Tribal leader into the ring, although to be honest this may be far more broken than I originally thought.

Could also do the +X/-Y thing too, to similar effect.

But then it's just Flowstone Blade

Just chiming in.

So I'm thinking of doing maybe a little mini-set based off of Unsounded. Does this look like a reasonable color breakdown for the different nations and factions?

GW -- Cresce
WU - Aledrode
UB - The Black Tongues
BR - Sharteshane / The Frummagem family
RG - Senet Beasts? The Mmatont?

I could see Cresce as UW and Alderode as BW, but it really depends on what aspects you want to emphasize. Cresce at its worst is bureaucratic and stifling, and at its best its supportive and egalitarian. Alderode is hierarchical and some might call exploitative of the cast system, and its a theocracy, which we've seen previously in the Orzhov.

But you can't really have BW in an ally color set, and UW emphasizes their pymary, so I dig it.

Really there ought to be a bit of black in both Cresce and Alderode. It's not exactly a noble setting.

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There's very little incentive to use its own ninjutsu.

I honestly didn't even want to give it Ninjutsu, and have it be more flavored as a Master Splinter teacher type, but then it felt odd to have an implied Ninja tribal leader not be a Ninja, and then even weirder to have a Ninja not have Ninjutsu.

Prototyping some new wording. Curious if this works or if it's a potential memory issue. I want it to work with extra combats in addition to on your next turn, but only for the next instance of combat. I originally had 'until the end of your next turn' and can go back to that easily enough if need be, but this seems kind of an interesting way to do it. Thoughts?

Very much has memory issues. You should just keyword Sengir Vampire and have abilities that check for a +1/+1 counter.

So 'until your next turn' stuff is okay but 'until the end of your next turn' and the like are out of bounds? Or is it a question of commons and stuff? Because the ability word is staying the same, but I'm just toying with wording and timing and stuff.

It's the difference between a handful of cards and a set mechanic with many different effects.

Well you haven't got an "until the end of your next turn" on there either. It's just "the next time ~ attacks", which is definitely an issue.

Even assuming there's a good way to word it, I'm not sure what's going on with the mechanic regardless. You get pseudo-evasion for having killed something the previous combat? It definitely seems awkward at common.

It kills something, weenies become scared to block it. Seems like it makes sense to me anyway. And yeah, I for some reason blanked on the fact that it could like, not attack on your next turn. So that's an issue, yeah. Been drinking a bit, sorry. I'll just swap it out for the usual fare.

Maybe some sort of Sengir Vampirism meets Monstrous/Renowned?

You could use a counter if you didn't need the ability to fire on the very next attack.

Whenever a creature dealt damage by ~ this turn dies, put a trophy counter on ~.
Remove a trophy counter from ~: ~ can't be blocked by creatures with lesser power this turn.

And you could keyword the trophy collecting and let different creatures spend them for different effects.

I didn't want to do +1/+1 counters on everything; I was hoping that I could branch out a little without relying on them. I have mixed feelings about Renown, truth be told. Especially when it comes to things like Biogrowth and that kind of stuff.

That's a thought. Ironically I had toyed with a Trophy artifact token as a potential mechanic too. I'll keep this in mind. If it seems like I need to go this route, it'll be a contender. I just prefer not to stick non-+1/+1 or -1/-1 counters on creatures if I can help it.

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Do you mean Battle Growth? That won't actually turn on any "as long as ~ is renowned" abilities.

You can put counters on an unrenowned creature or remove them from a renowned creature and it won't change whether the creature is renowned or not. The only way to become renowned is by an effect that specifically says that happens.

Ain't that a memory issue though? I dunno, I should probably hit the sack and sleep it off. And yeah, Battle Growth. I thought the +1/+1 counter was a tracker of sorts, which leads to memory problems because the thing meant to denote whether it's renowned or not is missing, or it's there but it's not actually renowned. I know how the ability works I'm just speaking from a confusion standpoint.

I appreciate a card that appreciates value!

Maybe make it a choice between a card or a saproling and drop it down to 1GU?

value/10. would be solid in draft

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Unless there are other effects that might be transforming it the "if ~ hasn't transformed" clause isn't really necessary.

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>Silvermist Apprentice
Seems fine. Could even have it bounce instead of sac I think

>Silvermist Shinobi
It seems kind of weird to make 0/1 illusions, since nearly anything that targets them is going to kill them regardless. Definitely works on a flavor level though.

>Ironsun
Breaks design rules about mixing +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters, but otherwise solid. Not sure how exciting it is w/o other ways to get counters on it.

>Blackwood
Shadow may as well read "can't be blocked" half the time, and 3 unblockable power is pretty strong.

It's also weird to see ninjas without ninjutsu, but I'm definitely feeling a "my style is stronger than yours" kind of vibe from these guys.

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Thanks for another good year, anons.

Interesting, though seems easy to abuse.

>Are you the seize guy?
Uh, is browbeat fan back? The "browbeat effects can do absolute anything" guy? Remember that guy being quite thick about it

I agree this shouldn't be common, not really because of the strength, but because the effect is too complex for common.

Check all cards that make a player instantly lose. All of them has something in common - they are not sneaky. Most "you win the game" cards have their effect starting "At the beginning of your upkeep...", so players have a whole round to respond to your card if you already met the criteria it asks for. Phage, that has a similar ability to your card, has a "
When Phage the Untouchable enters the battlefield, if you didn't cast it from your hand, you lose the game." to avoid people doing shady shit like Through the Breach (pic related).

Your card does something which MtG is clearly against (sneaky instant win), which is also something several card games also a void. Most players don't like this kind of effects.

Weird guy, but interesting. Never seen protection used like this. (though you should ignore the default reminder text and write your own, because "by anything converted mana cost 1" doesn't make that sense. Should be something like "by anything with converted mana cost of 1" or something).

Agree with . Double strike is a lot more interesting, and "until your next turn" effects should be avoided due to the fact they are likely to become a memory issue.

Didn't like the card, but I agree with your point.

Didn't like the effect, but the ideas are getting better.

> Riptide Homarid
"Riptide Homarid gets +1/+1 while its not your turn" (check the wording, but I think this makes more sense as an static ability)

> Trench Diver
> Chill
Nice. Simple, intuitive, seems alright to me.

Can you help me get this? Im trying to create a Trap theme with defender colorless 0/2 artifact creatures. Ignore rarities for now, any idea or recomendation is welcome.

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Here is my idea for the ninja (pic related). The idea is that it creates a copy and then you can just ninjutsu it out with another card to protect it. (leaving the copy behind)

I like it because it has boobies. But I don't think it triggers its second ability when it does its own ninjutsu. The idea is nice but idk.

Simple, but I can see this card happening. Nice to have it on blue as well (since it has many tricks to get it back).

Memory issue. I would redo the ability as something like this:
> Surmount (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
> Whenever CARDNAME attacks, target creature with power less than its power can't block it.
A lot more simple. The +1/+1 counter synergize indirectly with the second ability.

Value is good. I like this sort of effect. (though it could have that Evoke thingy, I like that too)

> Silvermist Shinobi
I would have it worded like this:
Whenever CARDNAME becomes blocked, you may pay 1U. If you do, return it to its OWNER's hand, then create a 0/1 blue Illusion creature token with...
I think otherwise is too overpowered.

> Ironsun Shinobi.
I think this could get way with coming with two +1/+1 counters instead.

> Blackwood Shinobi
I don't think you should put shadow + dash + ninjutsu in your deck. I would go for dash and not use shadow in your set (considering that shadow makes it too easy to ninjutsu).

I feel this card is weird considering it gives 2 red keywords and no white keyword. Right now, it would be more a monored thingy.

This sounds quite strong at its own. Might be overpowered.

I don't play much commander so I don't know if ninjutsu could already be used from commander zone by default or if it needs that ability saying it.

Legendary common? Really?

I just forgot to add the rarity. C'mon, give me a break

Ninjas has ninjutsu for a reason, usually they have some effect when they deals damage to a player, ninjas are more like stealers than warriors in kamigawa, the only exeption I see is Sakashima's Student (who can copy a creature that have some effect when deals damage to a player)

By the way, making Ueno search your library for an artifact and attach it to her makes works similar to Sakashima's effect, is dangerous and probably fun.
idk about the ninjutsu mana cost, maybe WWUU or 1WU but not shure

Also has no P/W, go get your coffee

>Surprised by that but ignore its Power and Toughness

I don't drink coffee and its almost noon here. I was just sloppy because I was just focusing on the part that I wanted to share (the abilities themselves). Since the card is not really for me to use, I don't really care about the rest, since if ninja user ever decides to use it, he will make his version of that.

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I would reword that:

Trample, Sunburst.
If exactly two mana of each color were used to cast Mana-charged colossus, then it gets +10/+10

If you use counters and he gets 15 it could be abused by double season or somehing like that, getting 30 counters so its a 35/35 with trample

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I bet you weren't expecting a legendary common with no P/T

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>ninjas are more like stealers than warriors
I understand that. But, since its a half-white ninja I thought that might change the way ninjutsu is used. My initial thought was artifact tutoring, but I think I'll try a different approach.

Cantrip time, friend told me it was too busted. Thoughts?

Your version evokes memory issues. And frankly for Progenitus mana + Doubling Season you deserve a 35/35 trample.

If the opponent don't have a response for this guy attacking, it is basically an instant win.
> Pays 18 life, +9/+0
> it deals 10 combat damage
> 1R, sacrifice it: 10 direct damage
> 10+10=20
> win

Yeah, that is a bit much. I'll probably change the second ability to hit creatures only.

not as busted as mine.

>untaps an isl
>and draws

I think it would be better worded as:
> Untap target Island.
> Draw a card.

Okay so that's another vote for Surmount being the Sengir ability keyworded. I didn't expect that, honestly. I dunno if I'm bullheaded or what but I still prefer it as an ability word. Also your suggestion makes it red, doesn't it? Targeted block prevention is red if I recall.

It's odd to me the direction this went in. I have to ask though; why is it that the +1/+1 counter is a popular suggestion? Player expectation? Or do you think wording effects with it as an ability word is just too muddy? Trying to learn here.

>Whenever ~ enters the battlefield attacking or attacks, [...]

> I have to ask though; why is it that the +1/+1 counter is a popular suggestion? Player expectation?
I think it might be popular because players like it, but the reason I recommended it is another one:

I was originally going to suggest you to just add a "surmount" counter to the creature, and then do "If CARDNAME has one or more surmount counters on it, ". But honestly its a little bit off to design a keyword that its only purpose is to interact with something else. In other words, its not a very interesting design to have a keyword that does absolute nothing on its on. Hence why adding the +1/+1. It gives the keyword something additional that has a power of its own, THEN you enhance it with something particular for that card.

MtG does this a lot. Undying and Persist is just like this. They could have gone for a random counter, like a "respawn" counter or whatever, but they didn't. Note that they intentionally used common counters, knowing that this would let the ability to be interfere with random shit from other cards (adding +1/+1 counters to a creature with Undying counters the undying). This gives a lot of run for players to play around and come up with creature plays around cards with the keyword, either using them or against them. However, if those keywords used a "respawn" counter that didn't feature on other cards, it would be boring because they couldn't be interfered with. That is the same reason why MtG uses the same name for many counters, like "charge" or "time". These are decisions to leave space for players to play around with that.

That is my reason for such suggestion. Also, hre is how I would word it right now:

> Surmount N (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this creature die this turn, if this creature doesn't have any +1/+1 counter on it, put N +1/+1 counters on it.)

Now, of course you could go for something worded similarly to Monstrosity, but again, I think such mechanics are more fun/interesting this way

>Whenever ~ enters the battlefield attacking or attacks, [...]
I originally worded like this, but worded like this means that the clone would also trigger that ability, creating a third clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a fourth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a fifth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a sixth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a seventh clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a eighth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a nineth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a tenth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a eleventh clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a twelfth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a thirteenth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a fourteenth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating a fifteenth clone. That would also trigger that ability, creating yet another fucking clone.

That is why I didn't word like that.

>[...] if it isn't a token, [...]

>[...] if it isn't a token, [...]
That would prevent tokens from spreading themselves when attacking, which was part of the design I wanted. So I need to word in a way that it wouldn't trigger when the token spawn but it would trigger when it attacks. I tried to make it too independent lines ("when this enters the battlefield attacking, if its not a token, [...]") + ("when this attacks, [...]"), but that made the text way too big (since it had to have the "the legendary rule doesn't apply" bit).

So that is why I choose to word badly as that. Because the better wording would either create and endless loop or ruin what I wast trying to do with the card.

Why not just make them Ninja tokens or Illusion tokens instead of copies?

I'm..... not sure mechanically. I know I did it flavor wise because of what i was trying to capture and never thought about it any other way.

Seems overly complex when the same mechanical and flavor effect could be gained my making Ninja Illusion tokes. Mechanics before flavor, man.

repostan

>Mechanics before flavor, man.
What exactly you mean by that? Because I think you might be overlooking flavor. Its a very important component, and its not uncommon to bend the mechanics just to make it more fitting flavor-wise. Even small differences between copying itself rather than making illusion tokens.

I mean that a card should first and foremost be mechanically sound and that justifying shoddy, confusing, or overcomplicated design by citing flavor is bad practice. Flavor is important, but mechanics come first.

>I mean that a card should first and foremost be mechanically sound and that justifying shoddy, confusing, or overcomplicated design by citing flavor is bad practice. Flavor is important, but mechanics come first.
Sure, there's a balance, and sometimes people come up with some weird shit because of the flavor that is just too messed-up mechanically to actually work.

> Mechanics before flavor, man.
> Flavor is important, but mechanics come first.
But I don't agree with this. Yes, the mechanic part may veto something because its a mechanical clusterfuck, but at the same time, the flavor might veto something even though its mechanically beautiful. I think the whole idea is to find a balance and a way to have both synergize. When you get a mechanic that works smoothly and that fits the flavor, that is the sweet spot.

But I would say that the flavor comes first. The mechanics are merely a way to turn that flavor into rules.

>But I don't agree with this.
(Not him, just someone tired of your whining.) Wah, wah, wah, cry some more. If you are going to approach every argument with "But muh feels tell me different!" then you should just piss off already. I'm not sure if you've noticed this, but people tend to come here to correct their cards, to refine them and make them good. If you are so unwilling to change your cards, this isn't the place for you. Go to MTGCardsmith instead.