Glimmers that Represent Negative Emotions
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Dec. 20, 2024, 11:59 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I believe that the "enduring" creatures from Duskmourn are an interesting concept, but I noticed that they all represent positive emotions, or emotions that people usually regard as positive, so I decided to make several "enduring" creatures that represent negative emotions (or emotions that people usually regard as negative), as seen, here:
Enduring Authority Show
This creature is modeled after Ghostly Prison or Windborn Muse, and I chose for it to be an elephant, since elephants are large and strong animals, as one would expect for a creature with this effect. I almost chose for this card to make spells more expensive to cast, as does Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, but I decided that that ability would be too powerful and or/oppressive, so I chose the ghostly prison ability, instead. I also originally gave this creature base power and toughness 3/4, but I decided that that would make it too powerful, so I made it a 3/3, instead.
Enduring Cruelty Show
I initially was contemplating giving this creature the same ability as Wound Reflection and Archfiend of Despair, but that would have made its mana cost far too high, so I chose the same ability as Blood Artist, instead.
Enduring Duplicity Show
I had the greatest difficulty out of this cycle in deciding what ability this creature should have, so I ultimately chose a very simple and straightforward ability; I originally wrote the ability as "whenever an opponent draws a card, you may ; if you do, that player discards a card," but I felt that that was too powerful, so I changed it, and I also made the ability affect the creature's controller, as well, for balance.
Enduring Ferocity Show
This creature was the easiest of the cycle to design, since it has the most straightforward ability, and it is also is the only one that does not have a keyword, since I could not find one that was suitable, for it; I could have made this creature a spider and then given it reach, but I felt that a wolf was better suited for a creature that has the word "ferocity" in its name.
Enduring Hostility Show
I almost had this creature grant haste to all other creatures that its controller controls, but I decided that that would have made it too powerful, so only the creature itself has haste (so that it may use its own ability, immediately), which means that its controller shall need to find a way to grant haste to their other creatures.
What does everyone else say, about these creatures? How well did I do, with them? I certainly am eager to receive your feedback, about them!
DemonDragonJ says... #3
legendofa, you do have a good point, so would givign those creatures higher mana costs be sufficient, or do I need to do something else to balance out their power?
As for enduring authority, I did not deliberately choose a word that ended with the letter "Y" for each creature, but, since it was a remarkable coincidence, I would like to keep them as they are; I could change its name to "enduring tyranny," but that sounds much more harsh than its currently ability, and would likely be better suited for a black/white card, rather than a mono-white one.
December 21, 2024 9:57 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #4
I really like this exercise, it’s one of the reasons I’m on this site! I usually associate “glimmer” with “hope” and think that ‘s why they’re positive emotions. I wonder if it would be worth coming up with a different word, sort of the opposite of glimmer. I don’t know what that would be, as there have been a million “creeping dread” type cards that are going to be very close to the mark. I can’t think of a noun that precedes negative feelings… I keep falling back to “sinking feeling” or other adjectives applied to nouns. Any linguists out there that are smarter than me? Hopefully? I have a glimmer of hope….. ;p
December 21, 2024 12:31 p.m.
DemonDragonJ Bumping a mana cost up by can solve a lot of problems, but I think my other suggestions--limiting which player triggers Cruelty, adding another activation cost to Hostility's granted ability--would help balance them as well.
December 21, 2024 9:27 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
legendofa, your suggestions do make sense, so I have modified those creatures, as follows:
Enduring Cruelty Show
I gave this creature deathtouch specifically to synergize with its second ability, so I kept that, but changed it so that its ability triggers only when an opponent's creatures die, so that its controller cannot simply sacrifice their own creatures to cause its ability to trigger.
Enduring Hostility Show
This creature's ability now hurts its controller, to keep in theme with red being the most reckless and self-destructive color, but, to balance that, I increased its power and toughness, although that also meant that I needed to increase its mana cost, as well.
What does everyone think about these creatures, now?
December 22, 2024 5:23 p.m.
DeinoStinkus says... #7
I think Enduring Duplicity is probably a bit too oppressive, but I'm not really sure how to fix it per se without completely overhauling the design. Maybe some kind of buff it gives to counterspells, kind of like Baral, Chief of Compliance? Just a thought
December 29, 2024 7:06 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
TheOfficialCreator, I agree with that, and, as I said, it was the most difficult card in this cycle to design, so I shall definitely redesign it, soon.
December 30, 2024 9 a.m.
DeinoStinkus says... #9
DemonDragonJ I get it unfortunately, blue mechanics are honestly some of the hardest to work with for me as a custom card designer.
December 30, 2024 1:38 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
TheOfficialCreator, I hope to have a better design, soon.
legendofa says... #2
I would change the name of Enduring Authority to Enduring Repression, leaning into the -negative aspects of authority.
Blood Artist is already a key card in a lot of combo decks, and this adds free recursion, deathtouch, and +1/+2 for just one black mana. This is probably printable at rare/mythic rare, but a safer option would be to make it trigger on either your creatures dying or your opponents' creatures, not any creature.
Enduring Hostility also feels strong, but it's a little harder to gauge. Auras like Power of Fire and Lightning Prowess give the ability to one creature for 2-3 mana, and Lightning Volley gives the ability to all creature temporarily, but they're not exactly power cards. Maybe add an additional cost, like discarding or , or activate only during your turn?
December 21, 2024 12:27 a.m.