Countermage Cycle
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Aug. 5, 2018, 9:54 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I recently discovered two older cards, Lifeforce and Deathgrip, which bend the color pie, due to the color pie being not as well-defined then as it is, now.
However, they did make me think about making an entire cycle, so here is what I produced:
Countermage Cycle Show
I know that these cards definitely bend the color pie, but I do not believe that they outright break it, as they are all far too situational to ever be overpowered; they are useful only against their enemy colors, but nothing else.
I am wondering about the names of these cards: should I have the word "countermage" in their names, to reflect their roles? Also, most of the names were easy to conceive, but ferocious countermage was not easy; I also considered "savage countermage," "bloodbark countermage," and "forest fire countermage," but those sounded either too corny or too extreme, to me. I also referenced the names of the two cards that inspired me to make this cycle in two of the creatures, and ensured that their names do not reference any particular plane or location in the multiverse, to allow them to appear anywhere.
What does everyone else think of these cards? How did I do with them?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
cdkime, that could work, but I wish for their colors to be perfectly balanced, and your suggestion would upset that balance.
I also added flavor text to these cards, to give them more character.
August 5, 2018 10:15 p.m.
I believe that, at least back when these two were created, it was well within any color’s “slice” of the color pie to counter on destroy a spell of an enemy color. Other examples would include Hydroblast and Pyroblast (blue card saying destroy and red card saying counter). So, I would think that these don’t bend the color pie as much as you might think. I guess now that it is more defined, Wizards has moved away from doing this, but as a callback to old design, I feel it’s perfectly fine.
Cards look sweet. Cool idea!
August 5, 2018 11:43 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
I am contemplating renaming glacial countermage to "stoic contermage;" does anyone like that name, or is its current name acceptable as it is?
Caerwyn says... #2
Since these require hybrid mana, they are tad easier to use than the older cards. Perhaps change the initial casting cost to to compensate for the easier activation of the ability? The single in the mana cost also helps offset the colour-pie issues some, while retaining the ability to cast the card without having blue in your deck.
I personally like the names as they currently stand.
August 5, 2018 10:11 p.m.