Grixis!Zedruu
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Jan. 31, 2018, 9:10 a.m. by Coward_Token
(I would add a proper community card but that feature seems to be malfunctioning right now.)
Farly straightforward, this card would mostly be Zedruu the Greathearted (although a different character, not simply her gone evil or something) with a casting cost of and an activation cost of . In EDH, this could lead to some fun usage of cards like the following:
(I realize you can basically already do this with any Grixis commander + e.g. Bazaar Trader, but that's a bit less straightforward.)
Wall of cards Show
I'm unsure what would be suitable for its upkeep ability. Just copying Zedruu's straight off isn't too inappropriate, as drawing is certainly associated with black and life gain isn't too far out either, but that's kinda boring. Replacing the life gain with something negative towards opponents like milling, discard or plain life loss proportional to the amount of gifted permanent could be one option that's more in line with the color change (thought the negative effects would probably targeted in order to preserve some political potential). Putting a +1/+1 counter per gift on Zedruu the Grixishearted to take advantage of commander damage could also work (especially when combined with auras like Herald of Torment), in which case you could also change power/toughness from the original's 2/4 to 4/2 to signal greater aggression.
For the sake of flavor its subtype would be Horse Djinn, with the artwork depicting a djinn with a mare's head, wearing a mouth-covering veil.
Feedback would be welcome, especially on ways to make Grixis!Zedruu more distinct from the original while still fulfilling the basic function of giving out torturous black cards, in addition to the blue and red ones they both share.
(A version containing green could also be made for the sake of giving that color a chance to show off its painful cards, in which case the creature in question should probably have monkey paws.)
Coward_Token says... #3
Okay so in the interest of transparency I'll admit I'm biased against randomness, but I'd like to say I'm opposed to exchanging things in that matter because it prohibits you from reliably giving away nasty stuff like a thrice-activated Demonic Pact or even a slightly parasitic Vampirism; sure you come bearing gifts, but the gifts are poisoned. Flavor-wise, this is reflected by its subtypes; Djinn are notorious for granting wishes in an unpleasant matter both within and outside MTG, while the beveiled mare is a pun on a certain proverb.
I'll also admit that this kind of ostensible benevolence is more Orzhov than anything, so I could understand exchanging either red or blue for white for the sake of being more intuitive, but that would probably undermine distinction vis-a-vis Zedruu.
Incidentally, I found out that someone else has had a similar non- idea, but it has an even less chance of being added than your average custom card in its unaltered state for obvious reasons:
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/annatar-lord-of-gifts-1?list=set&set=18812
January 31, 2018 2:52 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #4
(It doesn't exchange. Just thought I'd point that out.)
I think taking off randomness would make it unlikely to be a card that is good in the direction of being good to donate to a player, which is what I chose as a reason for the inclusion of black. It's obviously not the only possible design for a card that is black, but as a Zedruu player, I can say that there were a lot of cards, typically involving exchanging, that I couldn't run because players could take Zedruu away from me.
I do like your idea of Djinn though, and would love to see my design exchanging it's succubus flavor (which I considered as being tempting to have but ultimately destructive) for a flavor of a "Djinn Demon".
In my mind, the idea of "gifts", poisoned or otherwise, is too much of a white-flavored theme to go on a grixis card and/or already the flavor-space of Zedruu.
Look, I understand that players don't like giving away things at random, but this deck can easily take advantage of that by having only one option each turn to give away, then Donate-ing the commander to another player afterwards.
January 31, 2018 3:18 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #5
(Yeah I read things too fast and assumed too much initially, sorry.)
After giving it some thought (before you posted again) I must admit (yet again) that I really like your version even if it doesn't enable the set of cards I had in mind. ((((Don't worry my sweet, sweet Vampirism, your day will come.))))
January 31, 2018 3:31 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #6
Also to expand a bit on my color reasoning: It's kinda strange that while AFAIK few black cards encourages players to go with a "poisoned gifts"-style of play flavor-wise against their fellow planeswalkers (exceptions I can think of on the top of my head are Master of the Feast and most notably Nekusar, the Mindrazer, which I've probably unconsciously ripped off; see his origin story), loads of characters are obviously heavily linked to the concept (whether they're actually named or just depicted in card art) because their short-term generosity will lead to their own selfish gain in the long run, e.g. Yawgmoth, ol' Nic, most of the people in black tutors, some vampires and many(most? all???) demons. I doubt this is a very original observation, but I guess part of my motivation with the Djinn was to give people the option of playing in a way that makes them feel like they're a mephistophelian(I had to let the Internet spell that one) figure like Kothophed, Soul Hoarder or Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver, and not just striking a faustian deal with those guys by summoning them trough their respective cards.
Because of this, you might understand that I think I find it rather weird that the best way to actually realize the diabolical ambitions described above (Nekuzar is kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to being Satan) is by using a person who, flavor-wise, is... genuinely altruistic to the point of self-sacrifice. I dunno, maybe my understanding of is too shallow; I guess good doesn't have to be nice either.
Anyway, thanks for the input, as a fan of yours it was a bit intimidating, eheheh
January 31, 2018 5:06 p.m.
Insert your name here
Legendary Creature- Horse Djin
: Add , or to your mana pool spend this mana only to cast permanent cards, whenever a permanent you cast using this mana resolves target opponent (at random) gains control of that permanent.
Flying, Lifelink.
2/4
works for some of the cards less well for others but feels different from our zedru and more grixis. (and mor fun in my opinion :P)
January 31, 2018 11:27 p.m.
Coward_Token says... #8
That's a pretty good angle too. I was going to suggest letting the permanent actually enter the battlefield under the control of an opponent to enable spicy stuff like Soulgorger Orgg, but then I realized it would take things a bit too far with Miss Phage
On that note, a balance question concerning my own card's Zedruu-Donate ability: Particularly from a casual point of view, is it an inherently degenerate concept for a player's commander to have the ability to easily and reliably give people permanents that are more or less lethal, like Immortal Coil, the aformentioned thrice-triggered (not activated, sorry) Demonic Pact, Nefarious Lich, Forbidden Crypt and Abyssal Persecutor (also plain old Lich I guess but it requires another lifeline to be safely donated), or is that no different from everything else that strongly encourages people to include enough removal? I know Zedruu herself already has Transcendence but that one can't always be used due to the goat's lifegain.
February 1, 2018 2:58 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #9
Oh and if anyone feels like using the original character concept for something, the name I'd suggest would be Shayatina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaitan) and apart from aformentioned physical attributes I would have her have one of her arms be in the shape of a horse's leg carved out of wood, and the other ending in a monkey's paw, wearing a single golden ring. (Whether that last part is a reference to Tolkien or Wagner depends on how pretentious I'm feeling that any given moment.)
February 1, 2018 3:10 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #10
A little tweak to make my original idea less color break-y:
Permanents with curse counters on them have "At the beginning of your upkeep, this permanent does BAD_STUFF to you.".
: Put a curse counter on target permanent you control.
: Target opponent gains control of target permanent you control with a curse counter on it.
This way, the the black mana symbol isn't involved when you actually give away the permanent. A bit stronger than actual Zedruu I guess since you can split up the cost for cursing and donating on two different occasions.
MagicalHacker says... #2
I mean the idea of giving things away is so anti-black, maybe a new design should be done for grixis in this archetype:
Zathenia, Succubus
Legendary Creature - Demon
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, target opponent gains control of another nonland permanent you control and own chosen at random.
3/3
It gives things away and also wants to be given away.
January 31, 2018 1:54 p.m.