Custom lore, mechanics, and cards (WIP)
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Sept. 29, 2015, 11:22 p.m. by Epochalyptik
So I've been tinkering with a custom set between ARAMs. Some of these ideas are old and some are recent additions.
I did, at one point, have some basic lore for the set, but the summary is that a combination of experimental magic and natural mana flows have led to the emergence of a substance called "clearwater," which forms in wellsprings along the continent's eastern shores. It grants limited clairvoyance and improves magical potency, but is subtly toxic and degrades the environment if it isn't contained within those wellsprings or sealed containers.
Given that the plane is already highly mana dense and, as a result, prone to disasters, clearwater presents both a natural problem and a focal point for various power struggles.
Additionally, an ancient 
order is attempting to restore the plane to the security and idealism it allegedly once had under the authority of a great race of seraphs (which is now either extinct or dormant; the inhabitants of the plane don't know). To do this, the order is exterminating those who would corrupt or destroy the plane or any of its peaceable inhabitants.
Most of the aforementioned peaceable inhabitants have settled in the vast, savannah-like expanse known as the Midlands. Depending on their exact location, they experience either peaceful seclusion from or frequent incursion by raiders from the southwestern marshlands or the northeastern crags.
But enough of that. Here's what you're probably more interested in: the cards and mechanics.
There are three new mechanics: veterancy, reprise, and tectonic.
Veterancy
Veterancy is basically a keywording of the sort of ability that has previously appeared on cards like Sengir Vampire. It's the set's combat-oriented mechanic, and it represents the skill that comes with experience—and survival—in the plane's fluctuating landscape and inhospitable outer settlements.
And no, this is not a one-card machine gun. Note that veterancy triggers only when combat damage is involved in the kill. It is, however, a very powerful example of what kinds of utility abilities are viable with veterancy.
Reprise
Reprise is an embodiment of temporal experiments and the power of clearwater. It allows you to reuse spell cards—for a cost. Note that because reprise requires you to discard the source card, you can't get both the spell's regular effects and the reprise effect. Reprise is not an additional cost.
Tectonic
Tectonic is all about highlighting the instability of the plane and how it impacts both the plane's inhabitants and its magic. This mechanic appears largely, but not exclusively, in 
and 
, and, because it's formatted as an ability word, it can apply to many kinds of effects.
Other stuff
Here are some other cards I've prototyped.
For flavor, there's also a vanilla 6/4 Wurm creature called "Tunnel Wurm."
Might drop the first strike from this one.
The planeswalker seems like a fun idea, but I don't really know whether it's appropriate. I suppose it's better to start with a higher power level and a better embodiment of flavor and then identify opportunities for balance than it is to start with Tibalt and trudge uphill.
Feel free to offer feedback on anything—the lore, mechanics, or cards. I'm not making a very serious project out of this, but I'd like to know if the ideas are sound.
julianjmoss says... #3
I like the lore. One piece of criticism i have on your planeswalker is that he feels a little underpowered. His minus 3 is a repeatable-ish Demonic Tutor or i guess a Diabolic Tutor since the 4 cmc but in order to be repeatable he needs to be able to plus and that seems difficult since he doesnt protect himself. flavorwise he is spot on but again i feel like he is pretty underpowered.
September 29, 2015 11:31 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #4
Should Reprise be "cmc less than" or "cmc less than or equal to?" Either way, they seem like decently fun mechanics.
September 29, 2015 11:41 p.m.
julianjmoss I actually thought the planeswalker was appropriately powerful. It's not difficult to protect it with other cards. If he hits the field and isn't touched, you get to draw a card, look at your opponent's hand, and then tutor the card you need accordingly and cast it next turn. That's pretty insane. That's of course only the case if your opponent doesn't touch it. All you have to do is protect it and he can initiate your gameplan effectively. If he continues to live, he just keeps feeding you information and card advantage.
I think your lore is very interesting. Refreshing to say the least. I really appreciate when a custom card is backed by lore.
Are you planning on having any cards that resemble the effects of proliferate in this set? Several of the cards you've shown here involve counters in some way.
What are some fast red creatures you have so far, like one-drops/two-drops? Do you have any green cards made yet? I'd like to see how you weave green into what you have shown us here.
September 29, 2015 11:49 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 Lol if it was less than or equal to, I've already got 8 cards towards a deck in mind. 4 Thoughtspark and 4 Terravoke. XD Countering your spells all day.
September 29, 2015 11:51 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #7
Interesting stuff. Any cycles of nonbasic lands?
September 29, 2015 11:54 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #8
I mean, it's basically just having eight copies of a spell. You would still have to discard the Thoughtspark. And if you're devoting those slots specifically to bringing back a counterspell, why not just include a hard counter, seeing as you're spending three mana half the time anyways?
September 29, 2015 11:58 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 because Thoughtspark would Regrowth any two drop or less instant/sorcery spell, which can include a counterspell, but could also get other cards back too. Why do people run Mystical Teachings? For versatility.
September 30, 2015 12:04 a.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #10
People run Mystical Teachings? Huh, you learn something new everyday. That said, I can understand that, I guess. Getting back a Lightning Bolt seems decent and a lot like something Twin would do. At the same time, it's still a good question to ask, because I'd prefer to know if a mistake was made. If not, fine, it's a perfectly serviceable mechanic. If so, it's slightly better and can provide a bit more utility.
September 30, 2015 12:13 a.m.
Thought about this planeswalker, think he would fit into this set.
September 30, 2015 12:27 a.m.
Tunnel Sentry is awesome for his rarity and seems like great flavor and decent choice for a Shattergang Brothers deck. True, Shatter might prefer for him to stick around and keep making tokens sometimes, but other times Shattergang just wants a big beater. This card is nuts in that regard. Puts a little bit of Temur flexibility into a deck that would otherwise just keep making people miserable. Gives Shatter a way to win. (If you can't tell he's my favorite commander...this card is awesome : P )
Also Terravoke seems like a good alternative to Mana Leak in modern if we're both playing three color decks. I would put 1-3 copies into my sideboard if I were playing 
or control in modern.
September 30, 2015 12:33 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #13
@ItchiUchiha117: It's supposed to be as it appears ("less than," not "less than or equal to"). I initially had it set to "less than or equal to," but I backed off of that design because it would have forced weaker designs or higher reprise costs to offset the potential power of basically cycling between your 2-drop utility spells.
Once I've thought about a couple more reprise concepts, I'll revisit the possibility of making it "less than or equal to." I'm treading cautiously on that ground, though.
@-Logician: I'll upload another small batch tomorrow.
Proliferate isn't returning, but there are a few cards that have to do with distributing, removing, or moving counters. Nothing super inventive on that front, but there's still time.
So far, red creatures haven't been fully explored. I'm working on finding a balance between speed, power, and generic RDW munchkins.
Green is also in an interesting spot. I'm still finding ways to make it interesting. I spent a small portion of the design space on ramp, but I want to make sure that green is paid its dues and not just relegated to finding more lands for tectonic.
as a color combination in this set has a sort of Naya/Jund feel to it, with emphasis on rugged midrange creatures and tectonic effects.
I suppose some of the difficulty is that I've given a disproportionate amount of thought to , , and because that's where the immediate conflict is in the lore (and, to be frank, those are the colors that interest me more). But I'm aware of the ramifications this has on and , and I'm working to mitigate any shortcomings and bring some interest to those colors.
I'm also trying to diverge from some of the general MTG cliches. Elves are nowhere to be found on this plane (Elementals are coming back, though). Not every red creature will be a cheap aggro body, and not every green card will ramp.
Black is getting a new creature type, Fleshling. If you've ever played the original Dead Space, I'm envisioning something similar to the swarm:
Fleshling tokens are basically reanimated coagulations of flesh with the occasional bone or eyeball for variety. With black being heavy on recursion and necromancy as mechanisms to fuel its incursions into the Midlands, there's space for some interesting cards there.
Blue is getting Homunculi back, and it'll also have some seafarers and constructs to build up the flavor of its coastal metropolis (which also happens to be the location of the Chronoarchive and other important clearwater-related developments [more on this later; I'm trying to keep the Chronoarchive from being busted as hell]). I'm picturing a city with a pseudo-Ravnica style to it in terms of architecture and use of blue (not in terms of size or diversity). See the artwork of Search the City, Chronic Flooding, Vassal Soul, Perilous Shadow, and Underworld Connections for examples.
White heavily emphasizes Human Soldiers and Knights, so I'm considering other creature types like Rhinos and Beasts to help round out its type wheel.
There are also five color combinations on the plane:
- —The Blackwatch, an austere and idealistic military order seeking to restore the plane to a more survivable and peaceful state. Special traits include the deathtouch and lifelink combination on select, iconic cards and the use of calculated force.
- —Representative of the frontier-like Midlands, but not tied to a faction. Emphasizes the duality of peaceful life and adventurous scouting.
- —Representative of the highly volatile northeastern region where clearwater springs and sheer cliffs erupt regularly. Emphasizes reprise and instability.
- —Representative of the northern Highlands, where untamed forests and vicious mountains produce inhospitable and rugged ecosystems. Emphasizes midrange beaters and interesting land-oriented effects.
- —The Vulkar, a highly political and ambitious organization that fuels its dangerous arcane research with graft, bribery, smuggling, and assassinations. Special traits include sacrificing to draw or scry and an emphasis on subversion.
Although this cycle isn't strictly allied or enemy pairs, it does represent each cardinal color twice (in addition to the standard monocolor representation).
There's also a colorless faction, the Nomads, who have forsaken political struggles and territorial claims in order to roam the land and establish friendlier relations with its inhabitants. I'm lightheartedly miffed about devoid and the return of Allies in BFZ because it must now seem like I just got the idea from the new Zendikar. The idea was technically inspired by Zendikar , but by the original (I remember taking some measure of inspiration from Pennon Blade's flavor). I think all of my current Nomad cards were designed before BFZ was announced (the MSE file and various card ideas have been around for a while).
@JakeHarlow: Fittingly, yes. There's a cycle of monocolor, fetchable Legendary lands with one mana ability and one utility ability. There's also a cycle of subtypeless duals in the color pairs I listed above, but I'm still tweaking the mechanics on those. And there are a few other nonbasics scattered throughout (Evolving Wilds is coming back, there's a Nomad land, and there's a Legendary land representing the Chronoarchive).
@All: I'm very happy that there's been this much interest in such a short time. Thank you for the comments and feedback, and I'll try to get some more previews up by tomorrow evening (EST).
September 30, 2015 12:44 a.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #14
Alright, that's good to know that there's room for the mechanic to flex. Got my inner Johnny all excited already.
It's good that there will be Elementals. I'd find it odd if there were no Elementals in a set, as they seem like very universal things. They are confluences of mana given a will, after all. Sometimes even personalities as was seen in Lorwyn.
Given the colors Reprise appears to be in, I'm assuming there is a Cancel variant in it? Possibly a Lightning Strike or, more viably perhaps, a Lightning Javelin?
I'm quite excited to see what else comes of this, Epoch.
September 30, 2015 1:19 a.m.
I can attest for sure that a lot of these ideas have been looming for over a year. Check out this thread where you can find the first reply being an older rendition of the Blackwatch Paladin mentioned here. That was nearly two years ago. When you say that you made "Nomads" before BFZ came out, I have no problem believing that.
September 30, 2015 1:47 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #17
I think that the ideas you have got so far seem like it's worth continuing work on and the custom set could be fun to lots of people. The biggest issue I currently see is related to the lore. The set seems like it's very much built first from flavor rather than from a mechanic theme, but the flavor is a bit confusing. In some ways, the plane seems like Zendikar, the plane known for have potent mana at the cost of violently turbulent landscapes. I feel like this set is just that idea toned down with "Clearwater" added. That's just how I'm seeing the set, and it's something that is fixed either by solidifying more on how this plane (did I miss the name?) is different and unique from Zendikar. For example, you could draw inspiration from the worlds of Dune and Mad Max by having this world be almost devoid of water due to some mistake made by ancient peoples, and all the blue mages forced to become hideous horrors after being driven to use so much "Clearwater" for their magic (I'm picturing something similar to the telepathic cult seen in the original Planet of the Apes films combined with the Morlocks from the book The Time Machine by H. G. Wells...) I personally like when sets build on slightly familiar tropes, but the balance of avoiding cliche or confusingly new is pretty subjective. As for the name Clearwater, it'd be nice if the name suggested more to its toxic nature. Currently, it sounds like a cheesy vacation resort, and I don't know that it's what you're going for. To sum it up, if it's gonna be a top-down designed set (that's what it's called when it's flavor first, right?), then it needs more flavor to make it more unique.
Enough about the lore/set, I wanted to offer some feedback about the cards/mechanics. Veterancy is a solid mechanic. Period. I think the original issue with the effect in its history has less to do with the underwhelming impact on the game and more to do that it didn't trigger often enough. If you modify the mechanic to be all damage, then obviously you would fix that issue but then it would still be pretty boring and bland how the cards with it would work. Personally, I think this would be the wrong way to approach it though. If instead of having lifelink+deathtouch+veterancy on lots of creatures, I think it would be healthier to employ lots of tactics to try to make this "returning" mechanic more rewarding to play. I'm talking about drawing inspiration from the Abzan clan with their giving of mechanics if a creature is outlasted/veteran, giving creatures a "must be blocked if able" clause, making tokens for opponents on etb or attack, probably loads of first strike, and triggers for combat damage. I could be jumping the gun though and suggesting ideas that you have already had, but I just cringe at the idea of lifelink and deathtouch being together on any more than 2-3 cards in the set. As for the card itself, I think it's subtly overpowered. Being able to gain 3 life and deal 3 each turn unless the opponent is okay with being 2-for-1'd each turn without the option of eating it when it attacks seems scary for only four mana. If I had to change anything, I'd start with its power, since a life total swing for six on a four drop with those abilities seems bonkers. Maybe dropping it to two would be enough to put it into the balanced zone while keeping it a reasonable mythic.
As for reprise, my first thought was, "Why not call it Clearwater?" Again it comes back to really solidifying the flavor for a set based on flavor, which I've discussed too much already. The mechanic itself is simple but solid. If you were around for original ravnica (I wasn't), this mechanic is going to play almost exactly like transmute did since it only deals with providing consistency at the cost of losing the card's effects.
Tectonic is my kind of effect! I've always had this innate attraction to simple effects that make obvious deck building choices into very clear risks and to effects that level the playing field for players who have different amounts of money available to invest in the game. Lots of my designs punish people for playing lots of nonbasics, which do both of those things, so this mechanic is amazing, and I'd love to see more of this mechanic in the set. As you said, it can be played in all the colors, and I think that should be accented even more.
Tunnel sentry originally reminded me of the dune worms that appear when you've got a rhythm to attract them because of the way the ability works, but I think the effect could make a green 6/6 with trample at the costs it is currently at.
As for seraph shrine, it fits amazingly with the flavor, but it might be a bit of a waste of design space. I feel like there should be a way to put verse counters on it other than paying mana, because it's currently set up pretty much exactly like how a normal self-animating artifact works. Pay mana, it becomes a creature, end of turn, it's not a creature, etc. What do you think of adding "Tap three other untapped creatures: Add a verse counter to ~."? Or, you could drop the cost for adding verse counters to one, and make the Angel an X/X where X is the number of verse counters on it if it has 4 or more. That might mean you would have to remove a counter at each end step or multiple counters at your end step. If this is way to out side the idea for your original design, the best way I can think to use this idea and change your design the least would be this rules text:
At the beginning of your end step, remove three verse counters from ~.
As long as ~ has six or more verse counters on it, it's a white X/X Angel creature with flying and first strike, where X is the number of verse counters on it.
: Put a verse counter on ~.
Lastly, Kalise is something I strongly believe could be on the power level of JtMS. It is laughable to many, but I strongly believe that one of the biggest reasons that it was broken was because he had a non negative ability that drew you cards. It's toned down in this design, but I still would argue that the fact that it can draw cards on a non-negative ability should automatically put it at a cmc of 5 or higher. If you really want it to stay at 4, make the ability a -1, and that would fix that. In addition, the amount of versatility a 4-ability planeswalker is extremely dangerous design space (Garruk had one ability that had to target the only rarely relevant type "planeswalker"). As for this flavor, I'm sad to say I'm not satisfied. A chronologist that has an ability to read opponents minds and an ability to teach himself without the ability to actually get any extra turns seems a bit perplexing. To better fit the flavor, I'd make the ult literally Timetwister + Time Walk, the only +1 the scry ability, and -1 or 0 ability that does something about protecting himself. At this point, black seems unnecessary, which adds to the fact that the original design had already hinted at that.
All in all, I think the set has great potential, and is something I would say is a pretty good starting point. Hopefully, I've been able to help between my moments of intense opinionizing and nonsensical rambling lol
September 30, 2015 3:25 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #18
The lore is interesting, though it does feel like it could use some development (and I assume that it's not complete). For example, who is trying to corrupt the beings of the plane? Why would they do so, for power, so that the people know about the plane's past, or just because they're good old villains? Does this plane incorporate itself into MTG Lore, or is it a completely different story? Does the clearwater come from a practically unlimited source or is it limited? Are there consequences to using it? Etc... Having a clearer storyline would help here.
As for the cards themselves:
Blackwatch Paladin, I feel, is at the limit of being overpowered, because it's almost an Olivia Voldaren with a Basilisk Collar stapled to it. Instant speed removal for is, in most cases, game-ending. Perhaps make that ability cost ? Or make it so that it only destroys creatures while dealing combat damage? Or you could just leave it as is, I suppose. The ability itself (Veterancy) is itself flavorful and definitely in the right colors, so no problem with that.
Reprise is very interesting, because in a way, it's another Snapcaster Mage that has other uses. I think that this could also work, though you would have to make the effect of the card itself relatively bad. Also would it cost 
for every card, or would it change depending on the cost of the card?
Tectonic I'm a huge fan of. Nothing to say here, just don't make it toooooo powerful on certain cards.
I'll skip the next two cards and go to the walker. This guy just seems sort of dull and unflavorful in a way, because all he really does is draw cards. His ult, while good, is definitely not game-wining and doesn't interact with the opponent at all. His first three abilities all sort of do the same thing to different levels of effectiveness. What exactly is the flavor behind this guy?
September 30, 2015 7:38 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #19
I suppose the uninteractiveness of the planeswalker is due at least in part to the desire to avoid making JTMS again. I wanted to experiment with a 4-ability utility Walker, but I didn't want it to feel oppressive.
Deathtouch+lifelink is definitely not meant to be a commonplace pairing. It'll only appear on very few cards (2-3 max).
Veterancy is being developed in other ways. I'm still working on support cards and effects that make it more viable as a mechanic; right now, most veterancy cards are slightly beefier to account for the fact that they need to survive combat to get a buff, but I'm definitely exploring ways to let interactions between cards improve the way the mechanic and its sources leverage other factors.
Reprise costs vary from card to card, but the effect (discard to recur) is uniform.
The lore and designs are indeed heavily influenced by Zendikar 1.0, but the only major similarities are the ruggedness of the landscape and the fact that it's very mana dense.
As for differences, this plane has a very tense political struggle that characterizes interactions between WUB and colorless as well as an environmental struggle that characterizes RUG and colorless. So while the physical setting may be reminiscent of Zendikar, it's not really the same story.
September 30, 2015 1:30 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #20
We might have to wait a bit for some more previews.
I'll also work on putting together a more detailed summary of the lore. Hopefully, I'll be able to post that this weekend.
What do you guys think of changing the activation cost on Blackwatch Paladin's ping ability to 
and changing Kalise, Chronoarchivist's -3 to allow searching both library and graveyard?
September 30, 2015 9:16 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #21
Both of those could work. Possibly also make one of his +1s a 0 or -1 with something like "Your opponent chooses a card in your grave. Return that card to your hand."? Or perhaps something to do with "Tap target permanent. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step. Then your opponent may tap a permanent you control. That permanent doesn't untap during your next untap step."? They certainly work in the idea of politics and corruption (giving your opponent some power while retaining relative control over that power), since that's a strong theme in the tribe, and it differentiates from the other abilities. Just shooting out some ideas here.
September 30, 2015 9:29 p.m.
Giving your opponent the choice of what card to return makes that ability nearly worthless. If anything an activation that gives an opponent a choice has to t least be +1 and could even be +3.
For example this is my graveyard:
Scavenging Ooze
Verdant Catacombs
Thoughtseize
Wooded Foothills
Abrupt Decay
Raging Ravine
Wooded Foothills
Drowned Catacomb
Inquisition of Kozilek
Now lets assume we both have no cards in hand and my board is empty except my walker and yours has a Tarmogoyf. If I +0 to get a card back from the graveyard but it's your choice, what will you give me? Answer: Thoughtseize.
If you want an ability like this I suggest make the walker cost 3 mana or make him expensive, but give him the ability to run away with his Loyalty sort of like Karn Liberated. Like, Karn's +1 is just random hand hate. It might help or it might have just gotten rid of a land. But the important thing is if you can +4 him while there's no threats on the board his now nigh impossible to kill and can -3 again. So for this graveyard walker make him cost 7 or 8, start at 5, 6, or 7, and give him a +3 since you opponent could just choose to give you back a worthless Inquisition of Kozilek.
September 30, 2015 10:24 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #23
Nonland card then? Sorta a mini-tasigur ability.
September 30, 2015 10:49 p.m.
Let's think about the word "Chronoarchivist." This word is important, as it is the only word we have to describe the planeswalker.
"Chrono-" suggests time, and "-archivist" suggests an intelligent manipulation of the library. Being blue satisfies both of these, and being black can fit in too with a little bit of effort.
Does this planeswalker really need to have four abilities? It can, but seems cliche to think that there happens to be a very special planeswalker in this plane with the extremely rare 4-ability variant as opposed to the over 50 planeswalkers printed with merely 3 abilities.
It's possible to give the planeswalker a sort of trait instead of an ability, much like the Commander 2014 planeswalkers have the trait that they can be your commander.
Some possible traits could include:
- If this permanent would have less than 1 loyalty counter on it, you may put it on top of your library instead of in the graveyard.
- Hexproof.
- Whenever a creature attacks Kalise, that creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
- Kalise can only be attacked by creatures with flying.
- If this turn is an extra turn, you may activate a loyalty ability of Kalise once this turn as though none of its loyalty abilities have been activated this turn.
- Tectonic - Kalise enters the battlefield with a number of loyalty counters equal to the number of nonbasic lands on the battlefield.
Some of those work better than others, and there's a huge potential for very unique traits. A trait isn't necessarily a good thing, but it's an interesting idea to toy with.
The plus ability of a planeswalker is really what defines its primary day by day activity, while the second ability usually represents a proactive action that the planeswalker would only do under extreme circumstances. The ultimate ability is simply the most powerful thing that the planeswalker can ever do.
What action would define a Chronoarchivist's primary day by day activity? It would make sense that the +1 ability demonstrates a degree of organization. This planeswalker is indeed an archivist. It makes flavorful sense for this initial ability to have something to do with manipulating the top cards of the library, possibly even exiling a few face down to create a sort of archive to look though. I would suggest:
- Exile the top three cards of your library face down. Then, put up to one card exiled with Kalise into your hand.
What this ability does is develop an archive, and it has Kalise gather information throughout the entire archive each time you use the plus ability.
The minus ability has a lot of potential to synergize with the first ability. You could use the minus ability to broaden the archive by adding cards to it, not just random cards, but perhaps selected cards. You could also use the minus ability to rush into taking cards out of the archive and putting them back into your hand. Here's some possibilities.
- Put up to two cards exiled with Kalise into your hand.
- Search your library for a card and exile it face down. (my favorite, and fits black)
- Shuffle all cards exiled with Kalise into your library, then exile twice that many cards from the top of your library face down.
Then for an ultimate ability, we'll add in the flavor of time.
- Shuffle all cards exiled with Kalise into your library. For every five cards shuffled into your library this way, take an extra turn after this one.
Not that it's my place to make this card, but if I were to make a "Chronoarchivist," this is what it would look like.
Notes:
- No. It doesn't protect itself. Not every planeswalker needs to. R&D doesn't have the philosophy, so why should we? Not every planeswalker needs to be the next JTMS or even anywhere close.
- A Chronoarchivist in no way resembles an embodiment of anything that is offensive. This is purely a being seeking to gain knowledge. It makes sense that its abilities completely reflect that.
- Two of its abilities are very blue effects, and one of its abilities is very black. Matching this is the mana cost, which has two blue mana pips and one black mana pip.
- The clause that shuffles all cards exiled back into your library when Kalise leaves the battlefield is a sign of her organization. She doesn't leave a mess behind. Just like a librarian organizing documents and putting them back where they belong, the Chronoarchivist puts cards from your library back where they belong.
- The exiled cards are mostly protected from being permanently exiled, except for a brief moment of danger when you activate the loyalty ability to exile some amount of cards. In response, if your opponent Hero's Downfalls your Kalise, you shuffle your currently exiled cards into your library, then resolve the ability while your Kalise is in the graveyard, which inevitably will leave cards permanently in exile.
September 30, 2015 11:50 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #25
Can we +1 comments? I like that comment. That planeswalker is perfect.
October 1, 2015 12:12 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #26
I do like some of those ideas. I disagree with the traits you suggested early in your post, though. I also don't know that the last ability is appropriate. I'll offer more usable feedback when I get the lore composed in a logical manner.
Specifically, though, I like the ideas driving the trait and first two abilities.
I think you've helped me overcome one of the main design obstacles with this walker, which is that I felt constrained to use scry (a major mechanic for blue in this set) and similar effects rather than free to explore other abilities that can simply leverage scry and take the design in a new direction.
I really like some of these ideas, and I'll be playing with those over the next few days as I get the lore ready.
October 1, 2015 12:36 a.m.
I'm glad I could help you overcome that obstacle, and I'm excited to see how you make it your own.
And thank you M a g i c a l H a c k e r
October 1, 2015 12:55 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #28
Only a few new cards for now. Still working on the set, but I only really have commons and uncommons with a few rares at this point.
The lore is still pretty far from being comprehensively articulated. I spent a couple hours on it this weekend, but it's getting complicated.
I really wanted Clovencliff Stalwart to have haste, but I feel like that would make it too powerful in Constructed formats. I'm designing primarily for Limited, but I wouldn't want to make anything that would break another format (I feel like a potential 5/2 haste for would be too strong in Modern).
October 4, 2015 8:23 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #29
So Cinderwood Baloth kills itself if there are 5 or more non-basic lands on the field? By turn 6, that seems pretty guaranteed.
For the other ones, I would maaaybe make Caged Subject return to your hand, but they look fine.
October 4, 2015 8:32 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #30
Cinderwood Baloth will likely kill itself if you tried to play it in Modern or Commander, but not necessarily in Standard or Limited.
Caged Subject is supposed to go to the hand, good catch. Although now that I've posted the image, I wonder about the implications of an RTB effect at instant speed. Maybe it's more appropriate to change to either RTH or RTB at sorcery speed.
October 4, 2015 8:36 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #31
I mean, in every standard I've been in, by T6, each side has around 2-3 basics, sometimes more. And even if it is two a side, you still just payed 
for an 8/1 without haste that's subject to every form of removal out there. I would consider upping the toughness by or 
and giving it haste, or simply lowering the cost.
Either RTH or RTB sorcery speed would work. I would personally go for RTH because that makes it playable in some kind of control as you can do it eot.
October 4, 2015 8:51 p.m.
ItchiUchiha117 says... #32
I agree about Caged Subject, in that it should be either RTH or sorcery speed as it is now, simply because of the possibility of graveyard shenanigans.
Clovencliff Stalwart seems perfectly fine. Quite fun as a possible turn two 5/2.
Cinderwood Baloth, I feel, should cost less. Green does have cheap fatties and Red tends to have cheap, unstable fatties. Maybe make it cost 4 or 5? Look at something like Ball Lightning. Very cheap for something large that's only going to get one hit in, which I feel is very much like what this would do.
October 4, 2015 10:23 p.m.
I feel like Cinderwood Baloth would be much better suited with the following ability.
- Tectonic -- Cinderwood Baloth can't be blocked by creatures with power less than the number of nonbasic lands on the battlefield.
The fact that after 5 nonbasics are on the battlefield, he becomes essentially useless is kind of meh. At least, this way, he feels like what he should be for 6 mana in red/green. A trampling fatty that has a built in combat trick. When I draft, I like a good 6-drop green common with some meat on its back. This would be my kind of draft card. Even leaving him as a 4/5 would be perfectly fine. Thoughts?
October 4, 2015 10:40 p.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #34
I could keep it at 4/5 for or 
.
-Logician's idea is interesting, but I'd need to design some more fatties or scaling creatures to feel comfortable implementing it. Either that or add some more damage mitigation or removal (I haven't focused much on either yet).
October 4, 2015 10:46 p.m.
I think that every set probably needs at least one green 6 drop in common that resembles a "fatty".
Some examples:
- For BFZ, you have Tajuru Beastmaster
- For Origins, you have Vastwood Gorger
- For Theros, you have Vulpine Goliath
It's perfectly reasonable for Cinderwood Baloth to not be that 6-drop. But somewhere in your set, it's customary to have one.
October 4, 2015 10:55 p.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #36
I suppose one of my biggest and most immediate handicaps is that I was never a big Limited player (I always got screwed in sealed, and drafts weren't appealing to me). I've been studying how people think during Limited and working to understand why different cards are good or bad in Limited, so I think I'm in an alright spot as far as the set's overall design is good. I'm trying to fill the various design spaces, such as 2-drop fliers, 6-drop fatties, etc. But I do need some advice on what's overpowered or underpowered for the Limited environment generally.
It'll probably also take a few passes on a full spoiler list to iron out shortcomings.
October 4, 2015 10:56 p.m.
Mostly commenting just to subscribe . . . but part of me feels that Seraph Shrine should have some lifegain element attached to it for flavor reasons. Easiest would be to add "gain one life" to the end step trigger (contingent on removing a counter though, no life gain if it's sitting at zero).
October 9, 2015 11:04 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #38
What I suggest for you Epochalyptik, is to just study the sets released by WotC. Look at all the cards, how they interact, and how they are costed with their abilities. Specifically, look at the sets with very good draft environments. BFZ and KTK are two excellent sets to start off your research. I too never played limited to much of a degree, however, because I work on the card database I have intimate knowledge of how WotC details all of their cards in relation to one another to develop that set. Oh, and the many articles WotC makes on how a set is made, how to build cube, how to make your own set ... those are really helpful articles. Here is one.
I also realized that you seem to have made the community discussion of what people want to see in a limited environment just to gain information for this custom made set of yours.
October 9, 2015 7:24 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #40
So I'm in the process of overhauling the lore for the plane. I decided to shelve what I have and start again with a more interesting concept that accentuates the idea behind tectonic.
I also decided to add another mechanic: Archive N
For example:
Archive 3 (Exile the top three cards of your library face down. You may look at those cards for as long as they remain exiled.)
There will be design space for effects that interact with archived cards. For example, the current revamp of Kalise:
I'm thinking about changing the triggered ability to something else.
Maybe "+X: Shuffle X archived cards you own into your library." I would then have to raise the ult cost. My main concern is that there's a lot of risk inherent in archiving too much, and it would be nice to have some kind of buffer against that if it looks like it'll get too hard to use productively.
October 20, 2015 6:34 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #41
The +1 looks a bit too good to me. Something like an Anticipate that gets better each turn. Perhaps make it Archive 2?
October 20, 2015 6:41 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #42
Honestly, I'd switch the first two abilities, but I love the flavor behind him!
October 20, 2015 9:43 p.m.
I would play the heck out of Kalise.
That's the most interesting card I've seen in awhile. Not just walker, but card.
October 21, 2015 11:26 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #44
A lot of credit is due to -Logician, who proposed the current abilities or their inspiration in some way or another.
October 21, 2015 12:18 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #45
I thought about it, and even being able to draw cards through a zero on a 4-drop is still broken. So I'd say that the first ability should be at most a -1, and the second ability could take the spot of a +1.
October 21, 2015 1:34 p.m.
Yes but you're not drawing for 0. You're putting a card into exile hoping you get to use it later, like Hoarding Dragon or Helvault. Sure it's probably easier to get to use them since you're planeswalker can't be Path to Exiled or hit by a Go for the Throat or Dismember like the Dragon can, but at the end of the day you're not gaining anything that turn.
If anything the safest way to look at the 0 is as the ability to get rid of lands to keep drawing into super cheap spells like Lightning Bolt, Serum Visions, Path to Exile, Spell Snare, Counterspell, etc. It is safest and probably best used as a way to filter to fuel.
October 21, 2015 1:51 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #47
My issue with moving the 0 ability up to a +1 and moving the current +1 ability down to a -1 ability is that you aren't really generating any immediate advantage for yourself, which is sort of bad if it's the only way you can increase the planeswalker's loyalty total.
Currently, Kalise can only sort of protect herself by giving you advantage with the +1 ability. She doesn't have any "real" protection abilities, and it would be very risky to play if you had to rely on a 0 or -1 ability to actually generate any advantage.
October 21, 2015 6:18 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #48
Okay, think about it this way: what are all the planeswalkers that can increase the number of cards in your hand as a non-negative? There's only one four-drop: Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
I'd say the original design at one more mana in the mana cost is the simplest solution.
I don't know why, but my biggest rule with planeswalker design is it can't be strictly better than a single Honden of Seeing Winds, or you get JTMS. The biggest fail in all planeswalker design history.
October 21, 2015 6:32 p.m.
M a g i c a l H a c k e r... I couldn't possibly disagree more.
JTMS is far superior to Kalise and others because his draw ability doesn't just increase the number of cards in your hand by one, but it's overly synergistic in that it provides 3 draws and hides cards on top of your library, which can protect them from thoughtseize, synergize with miracles, play off of Future Sight and Oracle of Mul Daya, and throw away with fetch lands. Along with that ability, he can also unsummon, which means he can protect himself from creatures while tending to a tempo strategy. He has a +2 ability (as opposed to just +1), giving him a decent shield. And finally, his ultimate ability really does win the game. Fulfilling all of those categories in just one card is unprecedented; Kalise is nowhere near that level, not even close.
Kalise is perfectly fine being able to hit the board for 4 mana and be able to use a plus ability to increase your cards in hand by 1, especially since it doesn't protect itself in any way, and is dimir (which I feel gives it the authority to do what it's doing).
Look at Nissa, Sage Animist Flip. Yeah, it starts as a creature I guess, but it's still a 3 mana planeswalker that can just be a Phyrexian Arena. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas can easily give you several cards on its +1 ability. When I look at Kalise, and the cost of 1BUU, I see nothing wrong. I honestly see a balanced card. Many people will argue that on a scale between 1 and 10 in terms of power, your most powerful cards shouldn't exceed 7 or 8, and that's a fair judgement to make. Even if Kalise was a 9 or 10 (which it isn't), it's not like Wizards of the Coast even follows that criteria. They actually printed Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time. Those were definitely 9-10. Monastery Mentor is at least an 8.5-9, and they actually printed that. Snapcaster Mage is a solid 9-9.5, and yup, they printed it. I guess my main point here is that unless a card is somewhere between 10 and don't-even-think-about-it (you know the few don't-even-think-about-it cards posted on the custom cards forum lol... they're more humorous than anything else), I really just feel like power-level critiques aren't necessary, since it doesn't even seem to be a rule that Wizard of the Coast themselves follow anyway.
@ Epochalyptik I love what you did with "Archive X". Nice! There's so much room for that to flourish into a great addition to your design space. I'm imagining some pretty awesome synergies already. Even something like a green card that ETBs and may flip all face-down exiled creature cards face up, they are no longer archived, and then it can interact with those creatures by pumping himself up, or allowing you to cast one with perhaps some restrictions, giving Sultai an interesting overarching strategy. You could make a variation of Augur of Bolas where you "Choose one".. either archive 2 or 3 cards, or put an archived card into your hand when it enters; or even do an ETB effect as well as a LTB effect. That'd be pretty cool. You could do a "Target player puts a number of cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard equal to the number of archived cards you own." I think you're moving in a good direction.
October 21, 2015 7:56 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #50
What about this lineup?
+2: Archive 3.
0: Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it. Archive 1.
-1: Put up to one archived card you own into your hand. If this is the first time this ability has resolved this turn, you may activate another loyalty ability of ~ this turn.
-9: Put all archived cards you own into your hand. You have no maximum hand size until your next turn. Take an extra turn after this one.
4
I'm trying to play with a few variations on the current get-a-card effect. I'm thinking about breaking it out from the archive 3 effect, but I don't want it to be a straight up minus-for-card because you actually need to have something archived before it becomes useful.
Current downsides are the lack of precedent for the extra activation effect and the fact that Kalise would no longer offer a way to get rid of archived cards (Is that a fair risk for archiving? Should one of her abilities allow you to move archived cards to the bottom of the library?). Should the ult come down in cost?
klone13 says... #2
Terravoke is awesome.
September 29, 2015 11:27 p.m.