Kalyra, Caller of the Deep (Theme Commander)
Custom Cards forum
Posted on March 26, 2019, 7:08 a.m. by Simon714
Kalyra, Caller of the Deep
Legendary Creature - Merfolk
: Search your library for a Kracken, Leviathan, or Octopus and exile it with X deep counters on it where X is equal to it's converted mana cost. When any player plays a spell, remove a deep counter. When all deep counters are removed, you may put that creature onto the battlefield. It gains haste.
2/3
I've been thinking about themed decks lately and wanted to create a commander for a sea monster themed deck. I'm hoping this fits on theme without being overpowered. It's inspired by Jhoira but hopefully not as broken since it has limitations.
however, I would template the reduction effect differently to make it thematic:
"Sacrifice another merfolk, crab or fish you control: Remove up to three time counters from a card in exile you own."
March 26, 2019 11:31 a.m.
Suspend, which this is a variant on, is a strange little keyword that actually represents a number of different abilities. To better reflect this without using a keyword, you should split the abilities into the activated ability that exiles a card, and the triggered ability which removes the counters when the card is cast.
You also need to specify "creature card" in your trigger. Otherwise you run into a problem where you could exile Crib Swap and then be directed to place Crib Swap on the battlefield. That wouldn't work, hence the need for the limitation to creatures.
: Search your library for a Kracken, Leviathan, or Octopus creature card and reveal that card. Exile that card with X deep counters on it, where X is the exiled card's converted mana cost.
Whenever a player casts a spell, remove a deep counter from each creature card you own in exile. If the last deep counter would be removed, remove a deep counter from that card and place it on the battlefield instead. It gains haste.
March 26, 2019 4:54 p.m. Edited.
Funkydiscogod - basically, yes.
To me, it feels like more of a flavor win to have her “call” on the creature and have it come up to her aid. The Ula’s Temple ability is also a cool ability but doesn’t feel as flavorful.
March 27, 2019 2:04 p.m.
Boza - ya, it’s pretty much suspend. The only problem is suspend doesn’t work with the flavor as much, thought it definitely helps with formatting. I’m not sure if I like the sacrifice ability for two reasons. One, I don’t know how sacrificing a fish or anything would make a monster swim faster. Two, this card is already super wordy and I worry about space. I like the idea of speeding it up somehow though but since it’s a flavor legendary, I would want the method to make sense. Maybe it’s just an ability that costs mana but speeds it up rather than sacrificing a creature.
cdkime - I like where your head is at. My only question is, is there enough space on the card for all of that? That was my main worry with the concept from the start.
March 27, 2019 2:11 p.m.
I did not think about card design, but, in retrospect, my proposal is probably far longer than card design will allow.
As a point of comparison, look at Etrata, the Silencer and Prime Speaker Vannifar , two recent cards with incredibly wordy abilities. Etrata weighs in at 53 words spread across two abilities; Vannifar has 45.
So, what has been drafted here is probably a bit too wordy. But, if you're making a custom card, you could get around this problem by using a smaller font size and an older card frame. In days past, some Magic cards had incredibly convoluted rules texts. As far as I am aware, the longest rules text of any non-Unset Magic card is Dance of the Dead . It's a wordy card in the original printing, but even more so when you look at its oracle text. Currently, Dance of the Dead clocks in at 100 words comprised of 612 characters (plus mana symbols).
Fun side fact: If reprinted today, Benalish Hero , with its one-word ability, would have more words than Etrata, the Silencer once you factored in reminder text--a total of 57 words.
March 27, 2019 2:50 p.m.
PIayswithFlRE says... #8
What about, if the point is to call up fearsome creatures from the depths, what about something where they don't know what's coming like they do when the cards are suspended?
Kraken, Leviathan and Octopus cards cost you less to cast or turn face up for each face down card you control.
: Draw two cards, put a card from your hand on top of your library, then manifest it.(Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.)
This way, your creatures are lurking around in the darkness of being upside down until you call them up from the depths (for a conveniently reduced cost).
Has the downside of making them susceptible to board wipes, but I like the flavor. Still a bit wordy, but most of that is the reminder text for manifest.
April 4, 2019 8:38 p.m.
PlaysWithFire - that’s definitely another interesting take on the ability! I DO like the randomness of just making a call and not knowing exactly what you’re going to get. It also sounds like it could work with a polymorph style ability.
Boza says... #2
This is Jhoira, but with library instead of hand and sea monsters instead of any card. I would template it as Jhoira:
"Search your library for a Kraken, Leviathan or Octopus creature card and suspend it with X time counters on it, where X is its mana cost. Whenever a player casts a spell, you may remove a suspend counter from a card you own in exile."
March 26, 2019 10:20 a.m.