Cray the Uncaring
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Nov. 18, 2015, 10:08 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have been wishing for a black/white/blue planeswalker for quite some time, now, so here is my creation:
Cray the Uncaring Show
Cray the Uncaring is a vedalken planeswalker from the Esper shard of Alara. He believes in absolute perfection, and, as such, has gradually been replacing his organic body with etherium, hoping to make himself a perfect being. He is very cold and emotionally distant, regarding emotions as a weakness of which he seeks to rid himself. He does not tolerate what he regards as imperfection, and seeks to eliminate anything that does not meet his strict standards.
Cray is named in honor the Cray supercomputer, which was once one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, a name that I believe is very appropriate for a controlling and manipulative being. His first ability is reminiscent of that of Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, reflecting his tactic of slowing and delaying his opponents and making it more difficult for them to resist him which he furthers his own agenda and gathers his strength. His second ability is Recoil, representing the disregard that he shows to anything or anyone that he considers to be beneath him, banishing them from his sight rather than giving them the honor of a proper fight. His third ability is very similar to Wargate, representing him conducting methodical research to find the best solution for defeating his enemies.
What does everyone else say about this card? How well did I do with it? I know that his final ability is superior to that of Tezzeret the Seeker , but I am hoping that his stricter mana cost shall balance that; if not, I can add a line that causes his controller to lose life after using the ability, perhaps equal to the mana cost of the permanent that they find.
What I read:
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Search your library for a 4-drop anything and put it into play
not to mention it has other options. This seems too strong for me. I'd say either nerf the -2 or make it a -3 and either nerf the ult, starting loyalty, or cmc. I don't wanna make you neuter your card but this seems like too much.
November 18, 2015 10:37 p.m.
I'd say make the starting loyalty 3. Maybe have the ult search for a card with X cmc and put it into your hand? I agree it's a little over powered currently, but it's headed in the right direction, and pretty nifty.
November 18, 2015 10:43 p.m.
Thetytykid says... #5
I agree, Starting loyalty should = 3. Ult should be nonland, but other than that I think it's great! And perfectly powerful.
November 18, 2015 11:25 p.m.
Programmer_112 says... #7
It's very unlikely that you need the "or less" in the ultimate (which, incidentally, is way too good). I like the idea of the ult, but having a 3-drop which is actually any 3-drop/2-drop is too good. Drift of Phantasms and Muddle the Mixture see fringe play in Modern, this would see a lot more. Guaranteed Turn 3 hate card of choice (Stony Silence, Ensnaring Bridge, Rest in Peace, Ghostly Prison, whatever) is definitely too good.
November 18, 2015 11:42 p.m.
His +1 should be non creature spell or creature spell. All spells seems to powerful. Also you could just add 1 more generic mana to his casting cost to make him more fair. Still seems very powerful.
November 19, 2015 12:27 a.m.
holy shiznit. too good. now i would like to start my argument by saying i like the idea. ill first address the power level. so a 3 mana planes walker has been 3-4 loyalty on coming in. so you were ok with having 4 on a tricolor at 3. the +1 seems a bit odd. its similar to thalia, which is annoying. and its a planeswalker which means less of a way to deal with it. i feel like this could be breaking for some decks to deal with. i feel like it would make more sense if his ability improved something, especially considering thats sort of his goal in the lore. improve to perfection. his -2. hits lands. this is Boomerang on a stick (technically recoil, but thats not my point) which is powerful stuff. you can have him come in and boomerang 2 turns in a row. thats pretty painful. if you want to keep it as worded it needs a -3 instead of -2, otherwise i would at least suggest changing it to say non-land. his -x is too powerful. i can find anything ridiculous i want. i can find a bigger planeswalker with this. i can find another cray if i want. i mean +1 when he comes in and next turn you can drop any card in your deck (uncounterable might i add). essentially these abilities added together would put esper tempo control as the #1 deck. heck azourious control splashing black for this card would be plausible.
also i have a few things to say about his flavor. his first ability feels like it goes against his lore. He was "uncaring". He most likely would have been too disdainful of others to believe they were even worthy of his interference. i feel like he would more focus on improving himself. you said he slowly replaces his parts with etherium and separates himself from society. maybe if it was "until your next turn, spells that target Cray cost (1) more to cast." this would be less back breaking and more flavorful. his second ability feels more on point, maybe just make it a -3. or if you want you can make it say "[-3]: return target non-artifact permanent to its owner's hand. That player discards a card." i think at -3 its good but not killer and it also makes more flavor sense. and his ult. well that needs some work. its too powerful. i like the idea of making him a tool box, but i cant think of a way to nerf it enough. i mean besides the fact that he can get pull out any planeswalker 4cmc or less, and that it allows you to play tool box of anything. i mean you can trade him for Siege Rhino a Rakdos, Lord of Riots or something stupid like Trinisphere which would leave him alive, which means he can follow up with his +1 which means all their spells would have cost 4. this can be permanent essentially. so yeah the last ability needs work. i cant think of a way to make it the way you want it and still be fair. maybe just maybe if it was just artifacts it could possibly work. it may have to be a completely new style ability. something like "artifacts you control are indestructible" or something like "destroy all non-land non-artifacts permanents".
good luck with your card.
November 19, 2015 3:07 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #10
I dont know if you made flavor for the guy, or the guy for the flavor, but going off the lore you provided, and some power tweakings, I felt some thing along these lines would be appropriate and fitting:
Cray the Uncaring (W)(B)(U)
+1 - Until your next turn, spells that target you or spells and permanents you control cost (2) more to cast. This represents him attempting to slow his opponents plots against him and his plans, while still gaining strength himselfA bit of U/W protection side of the color pie**
-2 - Return target non-land permanent with CMC less than the number of loyalty counters on Cray the Uncaring to its owners hand. That player discards a card. This represents him banishing stuff that is beneath him as you put itBasically Recoil so it fits for U/B Colors**
-8 - Put 16 loyalty counters on Cray the Uncaring, if this is the first time this ability has been activated he also gains Hexproof and '-X - Search your library for a card with CMC equal to or less than the number of loyalty counters removed in this way, exile that card. Until your next turn, you may play that card as if it had flash and without paying its mana cost.' This represents him nearing perfection(because lets face it, you can never achieve it), he is immune to his enemys plots due to hexproof, he can search out the answer to one question a turn with his methodical research, as you said, or he can re-ult in order to get closer to perfection
Loyalty (5) 5 on a 3 drop is pretty huge, but he is 3 color, and it fits the flavor of him being mostly etherium, and thus hard to kill. Additionally, due to his 'less than' clause on his second ability, he kinda needs the five to be viable. Although you could make that ability 'equal to or less than' and make his starting loyalty 4 instead.
I dont know though, could probably use some number tweaks on his ults adding of loyalty counters, but its late and Im tired.
Edit: Tried some symbols that were apparently tied to bold or something here, so pardon the weird formatting/bolding whatever. As I said, its late, lol.
November 19, 2015 6:05 a.m. Edited.
themindxyz says... #11
I really like what RoarMaster suggested. What I would suggest is that you make him a 4 drop (by adding 
to his mana cost) and make his +1 a +2 instead. This way he still ultimates on the same turn but this way he survives to have the loyalty counters placed on him. For the flavor side of him, I would make his second ultimate (the -X one) search for a non-creature, non-planeswalker card. This fits his flavor because as he is getting closer and closer to perfection he will want to rely on the people he believes are inferior less and less.
November 19, 2015 12:23 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
I meant for him to cost five mana, a mistake that I have now corrected, above. I am terribly sorry to anyone who felt that he was too powerful, as that was not at all my intention.
November 19, 2015 8:36 p.m.
The ultimate that RoarMaster suggested seems too complicated. I like what aholder7 suggested more. His ultimate could be search your library for a card with cmc less than x, so he cant just be a 5 mana tutor for anything with 4 or less cmc. His ultimate is slightly like Bring to Light.
November 19, 2015 10:10 p.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #14
At the time I'm seeing this his cost is 2wbu. I feel that is a decent balance with power level. Maybe make his -X ability more specific. Fitting his flavor it could read "-X: search your library for a nonland, artifact with cmc X and put it onto the battlefield. X can't be zero."
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #2
He feels too powerful for a three drop. I would probably knock his starting loyalty down to 2, so that he's in bolt range for at least a turn.
November 18, 2015 10:20 p.m.