/ccg/ Custom Card General /cct/

What's with the recent NWO kick in the threads? I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Just weird.

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I dunno it came up when Timeanon posted his green and white commons for his new set, as I recall. I think it's because he makes fairly complex commons. I personally follow it now because I mostly make commons anymore but also know that you get an allowance of cards that violate it so I don't criticize cards that aren't technically compliant. I agree it's a bit odd but for folks like me that are focused on making cards that could fit into the game proper without making too many waves in terms of balance it's a nice set of rules to follow.

Mutilate says this is inadvisable.

If I knew you in real life, I think I'd slap you for saying this. You can't say you're the worst non-troll poster here, that's ridiculous. Your cards are way beyond the Cardsmith-tier garbage we've all seen get posted here from time to time. You need to stop beating yourself up for not matching the high standards you set for yourself in your head. It's just not good for you in the long run.

Grumps redpilled us and gave us a really good resource. And yeah, what said, we all got a lot of exposure to it after critiquing Time user's cards. It probably helped that Time user has always had complex commons, and I'm guessing that the people who brought it up before really latched onto the link Grumps gave us as a way to really validate what they were saying. Just my opinion at least.

>He did the monster mash. It was a graveyard smash.
I'm curious, did you say this because of The Mummy? Judging from the ratings, it's a complete trashfire. Oh yeah, and I heard that the audience laughed out loud when the movie told them it was the first in a series of shared universe movies.

Hm, already commented on everything posted that isn't mine. Well, I guess I'll just toss this up then.

Decent

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How should I word this keyword? Or is there something like this already out there? Activating Necromancy should be optional, how should I change text to reflect that?
Do you like it?

The first ability is fine a la Goblin Test Pilot, but the body is a bit too big I think. The second ability though... how do you justify WU dealing direct damage like this? Even on a R card?

Thanks.

Or is this wording better.

Apprentice Necromancer is already taken as a card name. As far as the ability is concerned, You can word it like Exploit.
>Necromancy N (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may exile N cards from your graveyard.)
Now, for that kind of effect, I don't really care for the name Necromancy; that to me implies raising corpses. You may want to try something like Gravescour or somesuch. I also don't know how easily balanced this effect would be, considering things like Delve and how WotC can't seem to even get it right themselves.

This is an ability word at best.

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>Whenever a creature dies, its controller puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
>T: Exile target land card from a graveyard. Create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.

You don't need to have a core tribal theme, but both cards will need you to pick a few core creature subtypes to be used on almost all your creatures if the opponent naming a creature is to be meaningful.

Any creature that does not have one of these core subtypes should either be basically vanilla or particularly unique/strong to warrant not having one.

Not sure, but templating might need to repeat the "Legendary" part for the creatures.

Might I also suggest 0/2 and giving it the equivalent whatever MTG has as a "Bard" subtype.

Even though you're calling on Swamps, reducing toughness means you should be costing with some black. Cards like Ulcerate show that the P/T reduction alone is playable, and you're giving it an upside on top of that.

I'd suggest costing it UB.

Interesting variant of Outpost Siege, but it's also probably a lot more poweful. Red aggro decks are happy to toss out their useless card for two shots at a good spell.

Since the target is chosen at random, I think you could remove the mana cost from the random target.

The WU activation is mechanically problematic though, they shouldn't be dealing direct damage like this.

As other user said, piggybacking the Exploit template is probably the best way to go.

Is there a reason it needs to shrink its toughness too? You could also make the activation U for -1/-0.

See for templating.

On the flavour side, might I sugest exiling a land plus creature? The creative of that ability feels a little disconnected.

See also: Deathrite Shaman

>Not sure, but templating might need to repeat the "Legendary" part for the creatures.
>Might I also suggest 0/2 and giving it the equivalent whatever MTG has as a "Bard" subtype.
Hm, you might be right about that first part. I'll go ahead and add it. I could also just change it to legendary spells as well, since there aren't many enchantments or anything with that supertype. As far as the Bard subtype goes, there's Citizen and Advisor, neither of which really fit. Rogue I guess kinda works but I don't know that it needs it. Why 0/2 though? I mean if it attacks alone it gets the Exalted benefit but if you have a compelling reason I'm willing to hear it.

>Interesting variant of Outpost Siege, but it's also probably a lot more poweful. Red aggro decks are happy to toss out their useless card for two shots at a good spell.
The issue with Outpost Siege is that it's overcosted slightly due to the utility it brings, since you get to choose one of two effects. Those kinds of cards are always overcosted a bit, like Charms for example.

>Is there a reason it needs to shrink its toughness too? You could also make the activation U for -1/-0.
Flavor, pretty much. Not much of a leg to stand on beyond that, I'll admit.

Pushed common blue one-drop, ahoy. I'm thinking that because of Slither Blade, this might just be okay. I considered making it a 0/3 when it wasn't your turn but I wasn't sure about that, because you might actually want to kill 1/1s with it early game. Maybe people would prefer it that way? It's certainly uncharacteristic of blue to have cheap aggressive creatures, but I guess we'll see what people think. Maybe it just needs a boost to uncommon as it is, or can stay common if it does the 1/2 -> 0/3 thing. I originally had it at 1/2 on your turn and 2/1 when it wasn't your turn but that made less sense to me.

Make it red instead.

Nah, I'd rather make it work in blue. Maybe I'll try the 0/3 option, or changing it to cost 1U as a 1/3 that becomes a 2/2 during your turn.

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Seems fine to me. Pretty pricey for something that does nothing on its own, but I can't really imagine it being cheaper.

Also, bump.

>Mythweaver ()
>Why 0/2 though?
Mostly to match the art and the support Bard imagery.

>Surf Warden
Also consider testing with reversed ability and base stats, see which one is easier for players to grok. But note that 1/2 reads more blue than 2/1.

For the record, blue has had like five 2-power creatures for one mana, but four of them have some sort of schtick which makes them less unsuited to aggro. (Phantasmal Bear is the exception.)

Looks like fun. Price is probably about right.

I had a stupid idea, left it alone for several months, and then made a stupid cycle out of it. Combo pieces ahoy! Looking for wording and whether the entire deal is a good idea.

Hunter's Oath 1WW
Enchantment
Whenever a creature with 4 or greater power attacks you or a planeswalker you control, create a 2/2 white soldier creature token with first strike and "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this token".

Warden's Oath 3GG
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, if it's your turn, create a 3/3 green Beast token with "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this token." It fights target creature you don't control.

Jarl's Oath 2RR
Enchantment
At the beginning of your combat step, if you control no creatures, create a 4/4 red Giant token with haste and "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this token."

Summoner's Oath BB
Enchantment
Whenever a player discards a card, create a 2/2 black Imp token with flying, haste, and "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this token and lose 2 life."

Coterie's Oath 3UU
Enchantment
The first time in a turn you have exactly zero cards in hand, create a 1/1 blue Bird token with flying and "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this token and draw three cards."

Seems kinda interesting. Though the B one should only trigger on opponents discarding, and I think the lifeloss should be cut out entirely, even if it means increasing the cost. And the U one needs to be reworked completely. Maybe trigger on upkeep if an opponent has three or more cards in hand than you? Oh yeah, and it would be a lot easier to just say
>Exile the token at the beginning of the next end step.

Bizump

Page 10 bump and repost. Working again today, on lunch right now. Won't be able to post anything else until much later.

>Mostly to match the art and the support Bard imagery.
Fair enough. Everyone's got an opinion about what looks best.

>Warden
Yeah I realize that 2 power one-drops in blue are very odd. I'm pretty strongly considering changing it to a 1U 2/2 that becomes a 1/3 when it's not your turn to help smooth that over a little. I just really enjoy trying to make flavorful commons that are mechanically interesting, especially one-drops.

Jarl's Oath is REALLY good in a suicide haste and burn deck because not having any creatures turn 4 is pretty common, so you'd get loads of value out of it. I'm not sure if it's too good though. Summoner's on the other hand is way too good. I agree with on that. And yeah, also that the U one is kinda degenerate as well, though less so than black since blue wants to hold onto cards so you'd have to be running an atypical blue shell to make use of it. UR decks maybe? I'm not sure how feasible something that's 5 mana and heavy U would be in such a deck though.

I can't even post from my phone at all anymore because ReCaptcha doesn't work on my browser now for some reason. So many threads have died because I couldn't save them.

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Opinions? Trying to decide if the draw should be a may or not.

>Summoner's Oath
Opponent discarding is fine, the lifeloss is to make it more double-edged or to force you to get rid of the token before the price comes due. Will boost the price.
>Coterie's Oath
I'll fiddle with it, but I like the idea of having to protect a one-turn token to draw cards. Uba Mask, for example, makes it ludicrous.
>Jarl's Oath
I considered making the giants 3/3 and the warden beasts 4/4, but I remembered Pact of the Titan...

Should be a Human, not a Hippo. Same way a knight on horseback isn't a Horse.

I think green will make more sense

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lame. hippo tribal never.

Base 4/4 P/T.
"power 4 or greater"
"may" is unnecessary text on an already crowded card.
Also, be aware that the whole ability fizzles if they remove the targeted creature.

so more like this then

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From an LOTR cube I'm making.

Wording issues aside, you can stack activations of the -3/-3 ability infinitely as soon as it transforms, meaning infinite damage. Same with the -5/-5 and drawing infinite cards. It's broken.

>an LOTR
I never realized this before, but I say LOTR in my head as "LOH-ter" instead of "el-oh-tee-ar"

>card
...doesn't it just make people invisible? Why did you tack all this extra stuff on? And why does it transform? And why don't you use the DFC template?

It will die as a state based action before you're able to do that since the -x/-x is part of the cost, so that isn't an issue.

So wait, is it actually the horse that's the legend? Also, I don't know how useful this ability is; typically red doesn't need anything more than three or four lands to function, but it does needs cards with how aggressive it is. This trades things it needs for things it doesn't really need.

>they
It's "he or she" or "that player". Also "4 or greater" for power. It's not bad otherwise. really hard to cast though. Since green and blue both draw cards, I think you could get away with lowering the hard color requirement and just doing 4GU.

This is nice. I don't really care for the fact that it doesn't do anything passively, but the idea that you can sac an Aura for a boost is great, especially if it's on something that's about to die anyway. Could meat at least coming out of it with a trade.

So... "Artifact of Song" is going to be transformable equipment that only needs to be equipped to transform? I have to ask: why bother? It's just going to become The One Ring once it attaches to something anyway. I suppose the turn you can't use it makes a bit of a difference because you can't just strap it to an attacker but it's not really that big a deal. The transformed side is... underwhelming to me. The wording is also kinda bad and needs some sprucing up. Get on Gatherer and use the Oracle text for other cards to straighten it out. Are the -N/-N costs until end of turn? Forever? What's the deal?

>Doesn't it just make people invisible
Do you think they would have fought a war over a ring that just turns people invisible? That's all frodo could use it for, but it's just a very powerful artifact.

>Why does it transform?
The "X of song" thing is something I'm doing for important things that change during the story. For this, it's picked up by people who think it's just a normal ring, but it's actually a terribly powerful artifact, so I wanted to capture both sides of that. Maybe going a little far for flavor?

>why don't you use the dfc template?
Just didn't know about it :p

See for your question about why it transforms.

Maybe I should make the costs for the transformed side 1,2,3 instead of 1,3,5? Yeah this is a rough draft, I'll edit the wording as I go on. It's till end of turn, need to fix that, thanks.

>Do you think they would have fought a war over a ring that just turns people invisible? That's all frodo could use it for, but it's just a very powerful artifact.
What else does it do then? And isn't the only reason it was so important is because it was basically Sauron's phylactery/horcrux?

Well, in the story it basically only makes people invisible. But it's what gave Sauron control over all of the other ring bearers (hence, the one ring to rule them all). Sauron also just dumped a whole shit ton of his power into it, that's why Gandalf is too afraid to touch it in the first book, he knows that with that sort of power any being would be corrupted. It's unclear what exactly it *does,* if it does in fact have a limited set of functions. But, my interpretation is just that in the hands of a skilled wizard it would just boost their power level a shit ton.

>When ~ enters the battlefield, each player draws a card for each creature he or she controls with power 4 or greater.

I always mentally pronounced it "Lotter".
>The Ring
Eeeeh. I mean, I see what you're aiming for, but the execution is a little boring. Maybe make it distribute -1/-1 counters instead, and stay flipped? Or scale it up to a Staff of Domination that gives you poison counters as a cost. Or riff on Elbrus, the Binding Blade. That said, I'm all in favor of equipment that jumps around the table.

Changed it to this. I'm afraid this is too powerful. On a 4/4 it could draw you 2 extra cards in a 2 player game, and X extra cards per turn cycle in an X player multiplayer game. I supposed it might be balanced by the fact that other players can get control of it though.

This is a really crappy rare. Also, players are going to think first strike works with fight.

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Okay, so it's pretty much purely for flavor. That's fine. I mean, I could understand it if it were some apocalyptic mega-weapon on the transformed side, but it really isn't. So it doesn't feel like there's any mechanical reason to it. I do have to say though that if you can get the card straightened out, that the "opponent gains control" bit is a nice touch to convey the ring getting passed around. It'd be cute if you added some Kithkin trinket text to it though. I mean if you're going to go all the way with it then go all the way with it.

Oh come on, if you're going to remake it, and you admit the wording is wrong, why wouldn't you fix it first?

>crappy rare
Uncommon then? I didn't want to presume.
>players are going to think first strike works with fight
That bit isn't my problem, and it's one reason I made it rare. Rares are where you can start making newbies look up rules.

0/10, Frodo totally gets stabbed while using it. Would not draft.

Jokes aside, how do you tap it? Outside source, on purpose? I'm fine with it if that's the case. I'm not sure how good of an idea it is either way, since it's only putting you on a 10 turn clock and if your opponent isn't running burn or artifact removal, they lose.

soooo, costing things that don't untap/ have a cost reduction clause is hard.

and they should probably definitely have mana costs with their tap abilities. derp.

"~ doesn't untap during your untap step."
MTG uses contractions where possible, and you don't need to account for jank when someone else steals it.

Creatures "get" power/toughness, but "gain" abilities. Balance varies wildly depending on color.

Your legends have so many templating errors. You need to read more cards.

Sorry, a bit rusty. been about a year since i last put anything together. Round two i guess.

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This basically reads
>Creatures you control have "Tap: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
And that's busted beyond belief.

So it can't be attached to the token? Good idea. Card seems cool.

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Page 9 bamp.

I've been throwing around the idea of a card that switches P/T for a cost. Do any existing cards do that?

CARDNAME, 1R
1/4
1: Switch CARDNAME's power and toughness (effect doesn't end at EOT).

Most of those effects only last the turn, for memory issue reasons. If you like, put +1/+1 counters on it or something, it might be okay, but those kinds of stat changes that arent text on a card are always going to be iffy. I'd recommend just having it last til EOT to be safe.

Confusion city. No thanks.

Permanently? Not really, because that's a memory issue waiting to happen.

Aquamoeba, Crag Puca, Myr Quadropod, Phantasmal Fiend, Turtleshell Changeling, and Windreaver all do this at varying costs, though.

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"If" implies its replacing something. You want a "when" trigger.

The first version seems fine.
Second version seems really weak unless you can some how cast high cost artifacts for cheap. Like, this is literally a dead card unless you have an artifact in play, and if it isn't 4 mana the Hermit is a really bad card.

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This seems really weak. I feel like if it at least Tapped X target creatures as well as scrying it would be fine.

Too powerful. Minor downsides are not an excuse to ratchet up the power level.

>Instant
>4/4
???

It was supposed to be weak on the edge of garbage. Making it cantrip was the next idea to make it less garbo.

>Rumbog
This seems very confused. As written it doesn't stop death trigger, and red normally discards before drawing. But that's ignoring the fact that discarding at random is super awful.

>card
:^) Exile target Emrakul.

Wait, fuck, I realized that my previous draft was correct and you have to have adding counters be at Sorcery speed or you get two free exiles off of it.

So the first ability is sorcery speed and the second is instant speed, although that ruins the ability to sink mana into it at end of turn. Boooo.

cryptolith rite costs 2 mana ever
this card costs 2 mana by the turn after you use it
multiples are not good
creatures aren't easy to stick if you're behind or at parity

i am not convinced it's busted

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>Hunter's Oath
Hunters are green I believe. You'd want the name to be something more like a vanguard or guard or defender of some sort. This card is gonna gum up the board more than you should allow for three mana.

>Warden's Oath
The mechanics are green, but you're circumventing green's weaknesses. It's the same problem as a 1/1 deathtouch that fights on ETB.

>Jarl's Oath
I think this is probably the only card of the cycle that will create net fun.

>Summoner's Oath
See also: Waste Not; Megrim; Liliana's Caress

>Coterie's Oath
I'm not sure that sort of template can even work. That aside, this is pretty ridiculous for a control deck. You'd cast it to empty your hand, and then always have all the answers you need.

At the beginning... (lower case B).

>Runefeather Harpy
Workhorse card.

Seems alright.

A card is worth a lot more than a Gold token. This ability is of questionable use, even if you're playing out of the graveyard.

Maybe just put the counters on the Entourage itself?

Untapping creatures like this is usually a green effect these days. White uses vigilance instead to keep the two colours distinct. Might be more interesting to grant vigilance straight up, and keep the +2/+2 on the sacrifice.

So for 2RRR you destroy two artifacts and two nonbasics? Seems really good for a common.

>Gladegrace Duelist
White and green are the two best colours at the creature game. You could probably go 4/4 here.

This card has a lot of moving parts. The shroud activation should probably just grant something straight up instead.

For the costs, put a -1/-1 counter or use temporary charge counters on the equipment, with a reverse Banshee Blade effect. Alternatively, you could make it an upkeep trigger, putting a -1/-1 counter and triggering both effects.

Last ability doesn't necessarily need to target the opponent, which has the draw of creating some suspense in multiplayer, and getting around player-hexproof. It should also trigger from being unattached, because an exiled creature will not trigger as templated.

When ~ becomes unattached, an opponent of your choice gains control of ~, then transforms it.

As much as it would fascinate a Johnny, this card really needs to have a way to tap itself.

Might be better to give her first strike straight up, and then a life loss trigger whenever she deals combat damage.

Whenever a creature dealt combat damage by @ dies this turn, you lose life equal to its toughness.

>Gate to the Forest Wellspring (green)
This is the odd one out. Its abilities don't synergise. One is only useful on offence, the other only on defence.

>Legends in general
As long as you control a creature with...

Also consider using "a creature with X and a creature with Y" to allow the abilities to come from different creatures. Otherwise you should just have the cost reduction come from controlling the matching artifact gate.

Also consider tightening their abilities to have something closer together.

>Darin (blue)
Why is the blue legend a Dragon? Template should use the word "doesn't."

>Matay (red)
Red doesn't get to do indestructible on creatures.

>Duelist and Eriko
Changes made, thanks.

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While the game can track tokens like this, consider adding a unique creature subtype instead, and running off that. Spirit Mirror and Pure Reflection are examples of this tech in action.

You could alternatively exile all tokens you control, to simplify the card, and to push it away from token-oriented decks.

Whichever path you go, it'll be an interesting card.

See also: Mimic Vat; Cemetery Puca, Fool's Demise.

... Untap target land you control named Lattice Tree.

You could also use Locus technology. Give the card a unique land subtype and have the creatures target based on the subtype. That said, Cryptolith Rites probably should not exist as a Land.

Go with the left version I think.

Rest in Peace as an Instant (sorta). Useable hoser card.

Oooh... looks like something I'd play. Maybe wants to be Legendary.

See also: Doran, the Siege Tower.

I don't think you were listening to them, were you?

Been wondering when WotC would print this, irrespective of its actual power level.

Probably change the name to something that evokes a lone attacker and group defender to better convey what this card is doing. I think this is the template you want:

~ attacks and blocks each turn if able.
~ can't attack as long as you control another creature.

Better than Blood Artist and its ilk in EDH, where games go bigger and longer. Still pretty trash though.

This template should work I think.

X: Put a sealing counter on ~. X is the number of cards exiled by ~.

This seems like a solid card, but put it at uncommon, maybe rare.

This looks like a very interesting card.

Flexible effect that helps the red strategy, not terribly overpowered, concise wording, good art, and decently costed. Only thing I'd say is to maybe make it 2RR. 10/10 would print.

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Works pretty neatly. Works like blighted woodland and like fertile thicket too.

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Except I don't know if something enters the battlefield as a copy of something else, if it gains that card's name or not. If not, I should've written "4, T: Exile all permanents that My Very Own is a copy of."

Yes. But it needs another color to justify exiling a bunch of stuff. Probably W.