Ir'revrykal, Entropomancer
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Jan. 28, 2019, 8:29 p.m. by lothshteth
This is the custom commander for my EDH deck, Spatiomancy. It is based off the antagonist from my D&D campaign...
{U}{B}{R}
Flying
Whenever Ir'revrykal, Entropomancer blocks a creature, exile that creature.
Each opponent must attack you or a planeswalker you control with at least one creature each combat if able.
2/2
Thoughts on power level, costing, and language are much appreciated.
lothshteth says... #3
This one, I had a much more difficult time with. The concept, for those unaware of the Entropomancer, is basically that of controlling a mini black hole (sphere of annihilation). A conditional effect would be good, as characters in D&D can roll to not get drawn into it. I want to make it a functional similarity, not an exact.
The mana cost is a base for the color identity I would like to use. Everything else is negotiable.
January 28, 2019 9:08 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #4
Maybe:
At the begining of each (opponents) upkeep, exile a creature chosen at random until (blank) leaves battlefield?
Adds a element of randomness, tones down power-level, and keeps the flavor?
You can also add a token to represent a Black Hole. (When (token) leaves battlefield, etc..)
January 29, 2019 12:46 a.m.
lothshteth says... #5
Hmm, I'm not sure I want an effect that could potentially hurt me as well. Although, that does fit into the idea of the character who is a follower of Tharizdun, who wants to end the entire multiverse. Something definitely to consider.
I don't want the "until leaves the battlefield" effect as this is supposed to be oblivion and there is supposed to be no return.
As for a token effect, it is probably the most representative way to match the D&D mechanics. But, when I was trying to design as such, I couldn't keep it from being too wordy.
January 29, 2019 9:10 a.m.
The blocking ability is far too powerful for the mana cost. Because of the way it works, you're exiling before damage is ever dealt, ensuring you always exile one of their creatures, with little-to-no risk to your own.
The effect itself does not seem particularly Black. While Black can exile, it generally does not exile attacking creatures. There is one exception, Nemesis Trap , but, for the most part, exiling attacking creatures is firmly in the realm of White.
Black's involvement with combat and blocking involves destroying creatures, either as an ability or through deathtouch.
Is there a reason you want this to be a defensive ability? It might fit the colour pie a bit better if used when attacking.
Within the context of your campaign, what happens if someone fails their saves and is trapped by the black hole? Do they die, or is there a chance for them to return?
Flooremoji - Currently "exile until X leaves the battlefield" only exist on White cards. It would be a massive bend of the colour pie to put this on a non-white card.
January 29, 2019 9:18 a.m.
lothshteth says... #7
It's not a requirement for it to be a defensive ability. But, the idea is to have an ability that draws things into this "black hole" type of effect.
Characters who fail the save and are drawn into the sphere of annihilation are erased from existence. This is why I want it to be a firm exile effect. In terms of D&D gameplay, they aren't allowed to come back without some sort of divine intervention, which tends to never happen.
January 29, 2019 9:26 a.m.
Theoritically speakking, how does the sphere not suck itself in, or the receptacle it is likely in, or its own user? How is there any conflict, when one character can literally suck away anything else?
But other than that, the card is very anti-fun. I get that it is antagonistic, but jeez, it is basically a Magus of the Abyss without a drawback. I will trink how to fix it, but can you give more background to the character to make the card fit better?
January 29, 2019 11:17 a.m.
lothshteth says... #9
Trying to understand the inherent flaws within D&D version 3.5 will leave you mindless. That being said, the sphere is a normally motionless object that exists as a tear in the spacial fabric of reality. It affects both objects and beings, but both are allowed a save to resists the tug. Touching it in anyway will however blink you into nothingness.
The Entropomancer prestige class gives the ability to not only control the sphere by being able to move it, but also the ability to be unaffected by it. So, the character can touch it and exist in the same space as it, with no effect.
The sphere is usually introduced in higher level situations, and the class itself is also something learned much later with the specific control ability being the last ability learned of the class.
January 29, 2019 11:34 a.m.
To limit Colour Pie issues and power, might I suggest making the Sphere of Annihilation equipment.
Sphere of Annihilation
Whenever equipped creature blocks a creature, exile that creature.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, exile all cards from that player’s graveyard.
Equip
You would then change your legend’s second ability. For an example that is solidly within red and black: “If a creature dealt damage by ~ would die, exile it instead.”
January 29, 2019 11:46 a.m.
lothshteth says... #11
I would prefer the sphere ability to either be a token created by the legend or to be wrapped up in the creature's ability itself. But, her ability doesn't necessarily have to be a actual sphere effect.
I want her ability to be something that affects game zones, preferably involving exile as that is the most on theme.
I do like the "if dealt damage by and dies, exile" ability. That could certainly be something to work around.
January 29, 2019 12:06 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #12
January 29, 2019 1:38 p.m.
lothshteth says... #13
To further speak on lore, if we are trying to go left field with the design...
She is of a race that doesn't follow the gods, and would be hunted down for her beliefs. But, she exists on another plane where her god is imprisoned for trying to end the multiverse eons ago. She is forever working to release him, by sending agents across the material plane to recover 333 scattered shards, that when brought together are capable of releasing the chained god. She is of a neutral evil alignment, and is a master manipulator. And, she is obsessed with returning the multiverse to a state where it was before it began. A state of nothingness, which is why she wants to release her god and which dictates the magic she practices.
January 29, 2019 2:30 p.m.
lothshteth says... #14
What about this left field version...
{W}{U}{B}
Shadow
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a card in exile. That card is considered owned by you until your next turn.
You may play cards you own from exile.
1/3
I know how people feel about using the exile zone as a second graveyard, and what not. But, outside of whether something like this should be made from a principle perspective, is this too much? Should it just be "You may play cards you don't own from exile."
January 30, 2019 5:23 p.m.
First of all, this is a bit too similar to Mairsil, the Pretender . Secondly, you cannot own other people's cards. That is why cards like Demonic Attorney are banned in everything.
Secondly, I like the bit of lore that you added and it will be nice to incorportorate. The entropomancer class sounds really broken in terms of abilities.
How about this:
Ir'revrykal, Entropomancer
Legendary creature - Human? Wizard
Flying, First strike
When ~ enters the battlefield, create a Legendary artifact token named Sphere of Annihilation with ":Exile target creature." and ", sacrifice ~: Put a creature exiled with ~ under your control."
2/3
This should keep the flavor, while toning down the power level.
January 31, 2019 3:45 a.m.
You do not need the ownership changing effect.
This should be fine.
“At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a card in exile. Until the beginning of your next upkeep, you may play the chosen card.
You may play cards you own from exile.”
You can replace “cards” with “nonland cards” and “play” with “cast” if you want to limit the ability further.
January 31, 2019 8:55 a.m.
lothshteth says... #17
So, I decided to go with a more direct version that highlights as much of D&D as I can convert...
(1)(W)(U)(B)
Shadow
When Ir'revrykal, Entropomancer enters the battlefield, create a colorless artifact token named Sphere of Annihilation with "At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player exiles a creature they control."
Ir'revrykal, Entropomancer cannot be exiled.
2/4
The reasoning for Shadow is that she exists on the ethereal plane, which meams she can't be affected by anything on the material plane. And the can't be exiled thing is because she is unaffected by the effects of the sphere.
February 2, 2019 8:46 p.m.
Rambolicious_0 says... #18
Maybe a bit broken if you bounce her. Make the token legendary?
I really like not being able to be exiled though.
February 7, 2019 1:34 a.m.
lothshteth says... #19
Yeah, good eye. Forgot to put the "Legendary" on the token.
The other thing I wonder about is the "cannot be exiled." Will it not work as intended, since Indestructible creatures can still be targeted by destroy effects to no avail? I don't want this to be a one sided effect.
February 7, 2019 6:35 a.m.
lothshteth says... #21
Thanks everyone for the help over each iteration. I ultimately reworked the entire deck to have a more straightforward plan of attack, and it now resembles a fairly standard Dimir draw/discard deck. With that in mind, I have reworked the commander to function more in that space...
(U)(U)(B)(B)
Shadow
Whenever you draw a card, exile the top card of target opponent's library.
Whenever an opponent discards a card, exile target card in that player's graveyard.
2/4
It still has shadow and exiles cards, so it suffices my D&D character thematically. And, it certainly isn't anywhere near as powerful as the previous incarnations.
cklise says... #2
Far too strong, even with a higher cost. The exile effect isn't even conditional, which isn't typical for these colors outside of black (and usually at a much higher cost). You might be able to get away with adding 'exile that creature until {this creature} leaves the battlefield' if you increase the base cost. I would also recommend some of exchange, like, giving the controller of the exiled creature some kind of single-use token (for mana, card draw, etc), or just straight up card draw.
January 28, 2019 8:47 p.m.