Thoughts on Custom Mechanic?
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Nov. 15, 2014, 3:04 p.m. by EridanWwins
Working on custom set, and part of flavor is that there are creatures that are able to turn into weapons (kind of like in the anime Soul Eater if you've seen it). This is represented by a new mechanic, weaponize:
Weaponize (cost):
If this creature is not an equipment, it stops being a creature and becomes an Artifact-Equipment with "Equip (cost)"
The equip cost is the same as the weaponize cost. Is this too complicated of a mechanic?
EridanWwins says... #3
No, it's just one way. Otherwise I think it would be fairly broken as you could dodge removal, chump block then turn into an artifact, etc. and then get your creature back next turn. I suppose it is somewhat like living weapon, though subtly different in that you can prevent damage from being dealt by turning it into an equipment at instant speed.
November 15, 2014 3:28 p.m.
If it's just one way, try "Weaponize X (X: ~ loses this ability and becomes an Equipment artifact with "Equip X".).
November 15, 2014 3:48 p.m.
Sorry about the double post, but I'd love to see an example of this kind of effect. Do you have any example cards yet?
November 15, 2014 3:49 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #7
Seems promising. (I wouldn't go for the Soul Of The Thief design though mainly because the wordy text with 4 separate paragraphs is a bit much, even for an uncommon. Maybe just a creature like Stealer of Secrets without the unblockable to cut the text down?)
November 15, 2014 4:33 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #8
This looks interesting, but it would just cost too much mana to be good. So you pay 5G for a 5/4 trample, then pay 5 to turn it into an equipment, then pay another 5 to equip said equipment. Thats a 16 mana investment for +5/+4 and trample. Either the Weaponize costs need to be reduced, or when you Weaponize then you should have the option to equip it onto a creature you control.
Also it could be cool to have a Batterskull like card where you can pay X to bounce it back to your hand. This way you can swap it from being an equipment back to a creature, but without it being too degenerate.
November 15, 2014 4:41 p.m.
Hickorysbane says... #9
This looks really cool, but I'd make the last two (the hammer and the scthe) mythics. If for no other reason than they just feel like mythics, but also because they'd wreck any sort of draft they sneak into
November 15, 2014 7:33 p.m.
I really love the idea, but like others have said, it is very similar to Bestow. They're almost the same thing.
November 16, 2014 9:22 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #11
One aspect in how it isn't similar to Bestow is in the general differences between an Equipment and an Aura, in that the equipment sticks around. Also, I think flavourfully it is more distinct.
But yeah, it does support similar Voltron vibes as Bestow. If Weaponize is your main mechanic in the set (and it probably should be considering its complexity),then taking a few ideas from Theros in terms of support (e.g: Charging Badger) wouldn' be unwise.
November 17, 2014 4:51 a.m.
A little tip: a 2-drop 1/3 which is a 1 mana Disperse on a stick is pretty bonkers. Dat tempo. Maybe make it cost 3 to cast normally, as it's insane just as a creature, and i'd almost never weaponise it :)
erabel says... #2
Part of the problem here is that the flavor has kind of been taken by Living Weapon, like on Batterskull and such. There's also Bestow, which plays into a similar vein.
I like the idea in theory, though. Would the creature be able to switch back and forth, or is it a one-way deal? If it's a switch back and forth, then maybe look at the Oracle text on some Licids, like Transmogrifying Licid.
November 15, 2014 3:23 p.m.