If you could create a card, what would it be?

[WWolfe]

If you could create a card what would it be and why?

For me, it would be something to help white with card draw in EDH. Something like this...

Leaked Battle Plans
1WW
Whenver an opponent draws a card other than the first one each turn, you may pay 1. If you do, draw a card.

[Mostlynotgay]

For me, it’s something to deal with some of the decks that utilize degenerative combos and abusive interactions

Artifact. I’m not sure the cost, but low. Probably 1 or 2

Establish Order
Nonland, nontoken permanents cannot enter the battlefield unless they were cast from their owners hand.
Spells cannot be put on the stack unless they were cast from their owners hand.

Like grafdigger’s cage, Rest In Peace, stony silence, and others, it’s a cheap permanent whose sole purpose is to address an archetype. It would be a sideboard card, guarantee, but I bet it would be the most popular sideboard card.

[Mostlynotgay]

Artifact. I’m not sure the cost, but low. Probably 1 or 2

Establish Order
Nonland, nontoken permanents cannot enter the battlefield unless they were cast from their owners hand.
Spells cannot be put on the stack unless they were cast from their owners hand.

The name sounds like an action or state of being, so it sounds like an enchantment, or maybe an ”until end of turn” instant, probably W or WB.  An artifact should be an object, so maybe it should be some kind of monument with laws carved into it.  The thing the Code of Hammurabi was etched into is called a “stele”, so maybe you can work with that?

If you stop all non-hand battlefield entries, you’d also be shutting down blink effects.  W & B often specialize in blink effects, so that side effect feels off-flavor.

Name is w/e.  "Martial Law" is already taken, which is what I wanted.  "Decree of Order" was my other choice, with the art being a paper nailed to a door or something. 

As far as the effect, that's the whole point.  That's why it's an artifact.  Though I am presupposing that most people see "artifact" and think "colorless."  Presumptuous, yes.  It's not supposed to be a color.  It's supposed to be colorless.  It actually affects interactions in all colors. 

[CardAgain Sweater]

For me, it’s something to deal with some of the decks that utilize degenerative combos and abusive interactions

Artifact. I’m not sure the cost, but low. Probably 1 or 2

Establish Order
Nonland, nontoken permanents cannot enter the battlefield unless they were cast from their owners hand.
Spells cannot be put on the stack unless they were cast from their owners hand.

Like grafdigger’s cage, Rest In Peace, stony silence, and others, it’s a cheap permanent whose sole purpose is to address an archetype. It would be a sideboard card, guarantee, but I bet it would be the most popular sideboard card.

I like your idea, but I feel the total cost is too low with the effect being continuous, especially in multiplayer formats. You are hosing quite a few strategies for the low cost of 1 or 2 mana and a card.

I don't think tapping to pay for the effect is better, that goes too far in the other direction of making it weak to  recurring/repeatable combos (the hosed party may be able to just instant speed their combo again and get on top of your activation, stack-wise).

Perhaps adding a tax to any 'nonland, nontoken permanent entering the battlefield without being cast from hand', or any 'spells put on the stack not cast from hand'. That would bust any infinite combo that does not include infinite mana, but not allow you to completely turn off several strategies for 1 or 2 mana.

I suppose you could add a rider that limits the amount of mana one could generate per turn, but with the elimination of the term 'mana pool', that becomes more wordy.

I realize I'm arguing against parts of your response to the question 'if you could design any card...', and that means there are no wrong answers. I like talking about 'fake cards' and their potential; I just feel like this would be too strong to ever get printed as y8u described it and was trying to think of a way it could be changed to be (my idea of) 'printable' and still fit what your brainstorm was trying to do.

Great idea, and thanks for adding to the conversation.

[Mostlynotgay]

I mean the same could be said for grafdiggers cage. It's 1 mana and it Jose's all sorts of archetypes. It was, in fact, the inspiration. The fact that it's an artifact is the tradeoff. Keeping the cost low means that it dies very easily to a lot of things. And it's symmetrical. I just like the idea of cards like cage, pithing needle, chalice of the void (in a sense)... low cost cards that are just meant to stop shenanigans. But can, themselves, be dealt with somewhat easily.

[CardAgain Sweater]

Alright: if I'm going to offer constructive criticism on others' ideas, I should put mine up for scrutiny as well.

The idea of this card is an energy hoser, but unlike solemnity - which prevents energy production - this would be a card that allows for a tax on using energy. A few ideas:

Sorcery - Diffusion Field, 3W- until your next upkeep, all energy costs are doubled.

I'm not married to the 4cmc, I just thought that would be fair, letting an opponent get off one or two energy effects before tax could be played.

Another 'dial' to tweak the card would be to make it an enchantment with an activation cost; that way you could split the cost, say 2W to cast, 1W to activate. If it can be activated multiple times, I like the idea of requiring the enchantment activation to use expendible counters that would be an etb trigger, sac it when no more counters are left. Bonus is that would prevent it from comboing so much with solemnity avoiding an overly oppresive energy lock.

If this would be in black, you could make it be a energy tax that saps the life of the energy user. Say....2BB enchantment, at each end step, each player that used energy this turn loses 5 life; if no opponents used energy this turn, you lose 2 life or you may sacrifice this enchantment. Ok, maybe that one needs more work.   

(Can you tell I'm hoping energy will return as a mechanic? But next time better answers are needed, I think we can all agree)

[MonteTribal]

1BBG

Lactictify Strength

Sorcery - Rare

Remove all +1/+1 counters from all creatures. Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature who had counters removed in this way.

"All that work, and for what?" -Some Necromancer

[Mnemosyne]

I made these using mtgcardsmith. Hope you like them as much as I did making them!

[PBJaB910]

I would make the card like this:
Name: Natural Selection
Mana cost: 3 of choice, 2 black
effect: Choose target creature type. Put all creatures into players graveyard, except chosen creature type

[Chronologist]

Field of Retributive Reflection

1 White, 1 Blue, 3 colorless.

Enchantment.

Hexproof.  All instants and sorceries deal damage back to the caster equal to their converted mana cost.  If the instant or sorcery would cause the player to gain life, they lose that much life instead. 

Its purpose is to put the brakes on these runaway red and black decks, but to be fair, it also hurts counterspells. 

[Mostlynotgay]

1BBG

Lactictify Strength

Sorcery - Rare

Remove all +1/+1 counters from all creatures. Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature who had counters removed in this way.

"All that work, and for what?" -Some Necromancer

Ohhhh I really like this.

[Mostlynotgay]

I came on to 8 notifications that somebody went on a downvoting spree for my posts.  Was my artifact really that bad ?

[ApothecaryGeist]

I came on to 8 notifications that somebody went on a downvoting spree for my posts.  Was my artifact really that bad ?

Quote from: Keovar on March 21, 2018, 23:16:35
Quote from: Mostlynotgay on March 21, 2018, 22:31:57
Artifact. I’m not sure the cost, but low. Probably 1 or 2

Establish Order
Nonland, nontoken permanents cannot enter the battlefield unless they were cast from their owners hand.
Spells cannot be put on the stack unless they were cast from their owners hand.
The name sounds like an action or state of being, so it sounds like an enchantment, or maybe an ”until end of turn” instant, probably W or WB.  An artifact should be an object, so maybe it should be some kind of monument with laws carved into it.  The thing the Code of Hammurabi was etched into is called a “stele”, so maybe you can work with that?

If you stop all non-hand battlefield entries, you’d also be shutting down blink effects.  W & B often specialize in blink effects, so that side effect feels off-flavor.

Name is w/e.  "Martial Law" is already taken, which is what I wanted.  "Decree of Order" was my other choice, with the art being a paper nailed to a door or something. 

As far as the effect, that's the whole point.  That's why it's an artifact.  Though I am presupposing that most people see "artifact" and think "colorless."  Presumptuous, yes.  It's not supposed to be a color.  It's supposed to be colorless.  It actually affects interactions in all colors.

I really liked your artifact.  I love things that hose a particular strategy, while still permitting the game to be "played".  (Unlike Winter Orb).

keovar seems to have been trolling the boards.  All of his posts have been deleted.

[ApothecaryGeist]

I made these using mtgcardsmith. Hope you like them as much as I did making them!

Way to go the extra mile with card mock-ups.

I really like the Foresight mechanic.  Something like that could actually see print one day.

I really like the evasion mechanic.  Some verbage version of that could be printed one day.

The stealth mechanic is very creative.  It unfortunately does not fit within the rules of the game right now.  The characteristics for a face-down permanent on the battlefield are not defined by the morph mechanic.  But rather by the game rules.

Back in Limited Edition (Alpha/Beta) there was a card that allowed you to put a creature on the battlefield face-down ... Illusionary Mask.  It was very confusing as printed.  Then they invented morph almost 10 years later.  The existence of Illusionary Mask forced them to define a face-down permanent's characteristics within the game rules as a 2/2 creature with no other characteristics.  They even had to issue functional errata on Illustionary Mask.  When megamorph and manifest came around, they were still locked in to the 2/2 creature as defined by the game rules.

This isn't so much criticism of your creativity as much as I just like spouting my knowledge of Magic's rules history.  I have so few relevant opportunities to do so. 

[Mostlynotgay]

I made these using mtgcardsmith. Hope you like them as much as I did making them!

I totally forgot about cardsmith. Way to be a go-getter.