Made a custom commander and it's PROBABLY broken
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Oct. 26, 2015, 7:27 p.m. by Jay
I tried to limit it by making it last a whole rotation, but gol'darnit I just feel like it's still too strong. I really don't want to put a sorcery-speed or casts-per-turn limit... Maaaybe make it just your turn? I dunno. Also if there are any obvious flaws lemme know. I think as far as costing and stuff it's fine for EDH.
Sarkhantheman says... #3
flavor-wise, there is one problem. If Asbeel lost her wings, then how does she fly?
October 26, 2015 7:37 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #4
Flying...
"When she lost her wings..."
wut.
Flavor aside, this seems PERFECT. Not broken, but super abusable. My inner Johnny approves.
October 26, 2015 7:37 p.m.
Probably better to make the exiled creature flicker back in at the end step instead of the owner's next upkeep, to stay more in line with similar cards this mimics.
October 26, 2015 7:41 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #6
Doesn't seem broken to me but it is still quite powerful, I actually love it. Maybe replace flying with another keyword to make up for the flavor fail. Just don't give it hexproof/shroud/indestructable - any of those would make it TOO good. Dethrone maybe?
October 26, 2015 7:41 p.m. Edited.
MagicalHacker says... #7
Dude this design is so awesome and weird. I love it but I don't like it at the same time.
The flavor being vague and the fact that the ability can do so much without paying any mana or tapping the creature what is causing the issue for me. I realize that paying no mana is a cooler design, but as it stands, you can sac a token all day long to "block" Blightsteel Colossus. Similarly, there's not really anything different in the effect from what Roon of the Hidden Realm does, which seems boring to me.
That said, since there are so many possible ways to fix this, that I want to give you a chance to rehash the design before I start offering changes.
October 26, 2015 7:56 p.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #8
@ M a g i c a l H a c k e r sacing a token wont block blightsteel. it has trample.
October 26, 2015 8:03 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #9
"I attack with Blightsteel Colossus."
"In response, I sacrifice this Soldier and exile your Blightsteel Colossus."
That's why I put quotation marks around "block".
October 26, 2015 8:06 p.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #10
OH
derp
it should prolly be "creature you control", afterall, that WOULD make it really OP involving blockers. you'd need a hexproofer WITHOUT equipment to get by.
October 26, 2015 8:09 p.m.
InfiniteParadoX says... #11
nah, "your opponents creatures lose trample" isn't very good so it shouldn't matter. Creatures you control would make the card godawful and completely unplayable.
October 26, 2015 8:56 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #12
Very interesting. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a card with a sac/blink ability, but it fits perfectly. But yeah, no wings... maybe it can give the creature it blinked flying until end of turn?
October 26, 2015 9:04 p.m.
Thanks for the feedback. Didn't even think about the flying/no wings thing. Good catch. Lifelink instead maybe?
Also I don't want to limit it to just you cuz then it kills the table interaction/politics. And I think sac'ing a creature to stall an attack for a turn is fair.
Also, making it next endstep would make it easier to abuse (IMO) because there's little downtime. Putting a creature out of commission for a whole rotation is a lot if you want to sac on your turn.
So general consensus seems to be power level fine, fix little flavor issue?
October 26, 2015 10:08 p.m.
InfiniteParadoX says... #14
I'd say the flavor issue is the only problem on the card, but directly removing flying means it should get another keyword.
October 26, 2015 10:56 p.m.
I actually really love this. There's a lot of stupid shit floating around in this forum, but this one is very nice.
October 26, 2015 10:56 p.m.
I like it. I like how loose the text is. The more restrictive it is the less the card would be worth playing. I would purchase this if it were a precon commander even though I will never play just 
commander decks. I would toss it into Maru or Abzan for sure though just to see how it performs.
Interestingly enough I would hope that the only creature it doesn't work with is itself. I don't really mind if you can flicker whatever else you want to politic or save whatever else is on the field.
I would just hope if I have a Go for the Throat or Hero's Downfall that I can actually kill your commander. If not then I dislike it because it dodges both instant speed removal and a board wipe. I don't want to have to pitch 3+ removal spells in a single turn just to kill 1 commander.
October 26, 2015 10:57 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #17
InfiniteParadoX, but it's not just trample, it's also menace, swampwalk, flying, horsemanship, shadow, fear, double strike, lifelink, infect, intimidate, "can't be blocked", and so much more.
At the very least, I'd make it only able to be done at sorcery speed, even if that means that you get to make the creature cost less. I honestly wouldn't mind a 3-drop that lets me do all sorts of shenanigans in a fair way.
Alternatively, you could make it be a once-per-turn ability, which would keep it interesting without completely turning tokens into powerhouses.
October 26, 2015 11:08 p.m.
Well since there are so many of us posting with different directions we would take the card lets start putting out the scenarios where we think it would be most broken.
As is imagine this board state:
Commander + Ophiomancer + Bitterblossom + Viscera Seer, turn 4 you're tapped out. You played on curve so you have 2x Bitterblossom tokens and a snake, and you went first. You pass.
Next player plays 4th land and casts Jace, the Mind Sculptor while still having Ghostly Prison and Sensei's Divining Top. Turn two he casts something to draw cards and uses Jace to manipulate library, trying to get closer to his combo in something like a Maelstrom Wanderer deck.
Next player plays 4th land and casts Rafiq of the Many and equips with Lightning Greaves keeping 1 mana open from Birds of Paradise.
My turn 4 I play my fourth land and cast Supreme Verdict. You sacrifice 2x Faeries and 1x Snake and exile your whole team. turn moves back to you.
Your turn 5 your creatures come in but you don't get teh Snake since it wasn't there at the beginning upkeep. You get a Faerie. What would you do here to start the true shenanigans?
Jace player does his thing.
Rafiq player leaves mana open.
I hardcast Mulldrifter.
This is something like how my games would typically go, and if I was playing that commander this would be my ideal starting hand. Of course I am not a combo player so I look forward to hearing how you guys would combo out by turn 5 with this commander. I imagine Abzan stands the best chance of it.
October 26, 2015 11:22 p.m.
This is pretty good actually :) maybe swap flying out with lifelink or even undying. Maybe have it so it can't sac to itself and maybe "sacrifice a non-token create or two token creatures".. idk, just my two cents
October 27, 2015 12:13 a.m.
asasinater13 says... #21
I like being able to sac itself, but it shouldn't be able to flicker itself. Seems weird to do that. I like the idea of lifelink because she has the flavor of "helping others" in her text.
October 27, 2015 2 a.m.
InfiniteParadoX says... #22
Yeah, flickering itself is kinda also a flavor nonbo. I still don't understand how people could think this is op. I'd still say it's totally fair.
October 27, 2015 7:45 a.m.
I like her being able to flicker herself because it adds some protection in the card itself. It does make her hard to kill but I don't think it's unfair hard. You just have to be creative, yknow? Limit the resources so there isn't enough to sac to save her.
The main thing I want to look for though is that the ability isn't OP, as in there aren't any excruciatingly easy 2-card infinite combos or dumb oppressive shit.
IF I was going to put a qualifier on it I would probably go with limiting it to once per turn, but I worry that it would be too restrictive at that. As it stands I think it's a very strong utility but doesn't single-handedly dominate a game. Just adds a lot of options.
So, Lifelink or Undying? Personally I think Lifelink is the better route not only flavorwise but also because she could just flicker herself to remove the counter... THAT would be hard to kill.
October 27, 2015 7:48 a.m.
Yeah avoid undying and blinking. Entering Mikeaus shenanigan land there. In reality, I'm still concerned about the ability just because it is a non-cost sac ability at instant speed. Heck, they could print a a 2/4 lifelink with "sacrifice a creature" on it and I'd probably play it in my Athreos deck purely as an enabler.
Just remember that sacrificing is powerful in many circumstances, and should not always be viewed as a cost.
October 27, 2015 9:32 a.m.
Yea the main restriction there is that you can't activate it unless you have a creature to target and you're probably gonna want it tot be a creature that doesn't benefit from ETB (unless it's yours). I meant to mention that when people were talking about stopping attackers with it... In EDH most creatures have abilities tacked on to them. Blocking a voltron'd up Sun Titan is a lot better than flickering it.
But yea I'm sorta torn because the ability is undeniably very strong but I feel like all the nerfs I can think of just hurt it too hard or are too complex to even bother. 100% open to suggestions there, but I want to keep the power level more or less the same just with less potential to exploit.
October 27, 2015 10:02 a.m.
Hey y'all, I made another commander for my brother if you'd like to check it out. Thread is here:
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #2
not stupidly broken, but prett good.
especially with token producers like Captain of the Watch.
at any rate, it certainly follows the whole sac for value and blinky thing that black has going on, so I really like it.
October 26, 2015 7:32 p.m.