Rank these lands...
Custom Cards forum
Posted on May 31, 2018, 3:55 a.m. by Hjaltrohir
Hi everyone, I am designing a rare dual-land cycle for a custom set I am creating, and I have come up with several ideas but I'm not sure which one to go with. I want them to be powerful and playable, but not broken. If possible, slightly less so than the shocklands. I would love if you could rank them in order of power so I can get a better idea of which ones I want to include.
1: Legendary Land. Add or .
2: Land - Plains Swamp. You may have X enter the battlefield tapped. If you don't, return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step. Add or .
3: Land - Plains Swamp. When X enters the battlefield, you may have target opponent draw a card. If you don't, X enters the battlefield tapped. Add or .
4: Land. X enters the battlefield tapped. When X enters the battlefield you may draw a card. Add or .
Or if you have any other ideas I would love to hear them! Thanks for your time.
I like no. 2. and 3. Comparing them to Shocklands, I would go with no. 3, but note that card-draw for an opponent is way more disadvantageous than losing 2 life. 1. and 4. are both much too powerful.
May 31, 2018 6:05 a.m.
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Way, way too powerful. Even if it can't be fetched and has the legendary limit, this is free colour fixing in the most important stages of the game.
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I kind of like this one--I would probably never use it in a constructed format, but it seems decent enough for emergency fixing in limited, and its ability to be fetched means it might see some use in budget commander. Since limited is where it might shine, be sure to include artifacts/spells that care about fetching specific land types (i.e. cards like Everbark Shaman).
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I think this is unplayable--giving your opponent a card is far too large a detriment for colour fixing. This is particularly true in limited, where the 40-card deck size means you have an increased chance of drawing something nifty. Perhaps instead, your opponent gets to scry one (sort of like a reverse Temple of Epiphany). I'd still be highly skeptical about playing it, but that would make it a bit more balanced.
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I agree with what others have said--drawing a card is far too powerful.
If you're looking for more inspiration, consider the Future Sight duel lands. Nimbus Maze, Grove of the Burnwillows, Horizon Canopy, and River of Tears all need to have their cycles completed.
May 31, 2018 12:17 p.m. Edited.
Hjaltrohir says... #5
Thanks all for your comments - much appreciated. I was thinking that 1 and 4 were too good (especially since 4 is just a strictly better Temple of Silence). I also agree that letting your opponents draw is too much of a downside, leaving number 2 which I quite like. I think I will go ahead with that idea.
cdkime thank you so much for those future sight duals - they are perfect and I will see what I can do with them - i completely forgot they existed! Much appreciated ;)
May 31, 2018 1:36 p.m.
Context on the rest of the the set helps.
If you wanted a different direction, you could go lair style:
Plains swamp: when X enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you return another swamp or plains you control to its owner's hand.
You also gotta be careful just tacking "legendary" on a permanent to fix it. Because tap Gaea's Cradle, play second Gaea's Cradle sacrificing the first one, tap second Gaea's Cradle is still really good.
June 1, 2018 3:32 a.m.
I really like #2. Put it in a landfall matters deck and you never have to worry about missing a land drop to trigger your stuff.
June 1, 2018 2:32 p.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #8
Yeah I agree that the legendary one was too much wishful thinking. Having each land have a different ability Future Sight-esque is an interesting idea - something to consider. I think number 2 is my favourite also and I'm leaning towards that one.
Boza says... #2
I would say none of these are good. 1 is barely restricted, think Flagstones of Trokair; 2 is super punishing and is never worth playing, 3 is in the same vein, but the downside is really small in most cases - early game it is negligable and late game you can have ETB tapped; 4 is too powerful, remember the Temple of Malady cycle.
May 31, 2018 6:05 a.m.