Welcome, unsuspecting poster, to my Hoard of Notions. This thread is where I'll be posting various cards, design musings, and cryptic portents of things yet to come.
MaRo, everyone's favorite elemental, recently posted this article about the modern color pie. For most of us, it was probably a reiteration of things we already know, but nice to have as a reference. The only thing that struck me as odd was this bit filed under Green's pie:
"Banisher Priest–like effect (When this card enters the battlefield, exile target creature/permanent until this card leaves play.)"
To my knowledge, this isn't an effect that we've seen in Green yet. But it's an interesting extension of Green's creature removal tools, which thus far has been limited to flying hate, fightning, and biting the crap out of people.
That brings me to this card:
Swallow Whole Enchantment -- Aura (U) Enchant creature you control When Swallow Whole enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls for as long as Swallow Whole remains on the battlefield.
If you've been fastidiously following and studying every post I've made in the past ten years, then you know that one of my favorite things is when a card combines two unrelated mechanics in a flavorful way. Unrelated to that, I also like those lawn bags that looks like jack-o-lanterns that you see at Halloween time.
Here's a card like that. Not like a lawn bag, the other part:
Eavesdropping Enchantment (R) You may look at your opponent’s hands. Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may draw a card. “Always speak as though someone is listening in. Because in this city, someone usually is.” —Boss Langey
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Telepathy + Consecrated Sphinx isn't that mechanically interesting, I suppose, but sometimes cards are more than the sum of their parts.
This week (Starting on Wednesday, as is tradition), I will be posting a Trap card every day until the week ends or I forget, whichever comes first.
We were introduced to Trap cards during the game's first foray to Zendikar, a plane famous for later being eaten by Eldrazi. In case you were curious, yes: people drove the "You activated by Trap card" jokes into the ground within 24 hours of the first one being spoiled. It's that kind of creative genius that I try to emulate in my threads.
Anyway, here's the first card:
Tomb Curse Trap Instant -- Trap (U) If a creature has entered an opponent’s control from a graveyard this turn, you may pay rather than pay Tomb Curse Trap’s mana cost. Exile target creature. The symbols that covered the tomb were unfamiliar, but the meaning was quite clear.
Like yesterday's card, most traps have an effect that somehow undoes whatever the opponent did to trigger them (See Whiplash Trap, Lavaball Trap). The second kind just punishes them for it (See Stone Idol Trap, Runeflare Trap). Today's card is more like that.
Reflection Trap Instant -- Trap (R) If an opponent controls two or more creatures with the same name, you may pay rather than pay Reflection Trap’s mana cost. Put a creature token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of target creature an opponent controls. She saw her reflection blink at the same moment she felt the knife in her back.
Bruised and beaten, you stagger into a fork in the dungeon. You clutch your bag of treasure tighter in your blood-slick hand, surveying your options. Both directions lead steadily into darkness, yielding no clue which will lead to safety.
Gerrick's knowledge would have come in handy here. It's a shame you left him bleeding on the cold stone floor of the treasure room. But really, he should have known that the dais was booby-trapped, and it's not like he would've dragged you out of here if the roles were reversed.
Enough stalling, you tell yourself. Do you go left or right?
Left
You take a left, plunging into the dark corridor. The darkness is so absolute that the light of your torch barely manages to beat it back. For what seems like hours, you force yourself forward as the hall twists and turns. Slowly, the blackness around you begins to soften -- first to a slightly less oppressive black, then to a sort of blackish-grey, and then more of a greyish-black, and then at last a speck of light appears in the distance. You quicken your wounded gait.
You emerge at last from these damned ruins and are greeted by the midday sun and rolling green pastures. To your right, a grazing wandrex interrupts its lunch just long enough to glance at you and vacate its bowls. Not too far in the other direction, a rocky stream babbles soothingly. Safety at last!
You've escaped the Seat of Kukkuranoth with your life and no small amount of loot. The moneychangers back in Corova should be placated, leaving you just enough left over to start that beeble ranch you'd been dreaming of. All in all, you consider the venture worthwhile. Too bad about Gerrick, really -- he was a decent enough chap. You'll have to have a drink in his honor as soon as you get home.
As you stop to wash your wounds in the stream, you can't help but wish that there had been some sort of fantasy fantasy card here. What was the point of this, really?
Right
You hook a right.
You thought the intersection was dark, but it only seems to deepen with every step you take. Your take some comfort from the orange halo of light cast by your torch. But then, to your weary eyes, the edges seem to fray as if under siege from the gloom. With a shake of your head, it returns to normal... but your nerves don't.
The halls echo with the sound of your boots on cold stone, but you can barely hear that over your own ragged breaths. You wish suddenly, desperately, that you were not alone. Gerrick, greedy bastard he was, was at least good for lightening the mood with one of his off-color jokes or highly embellished anecdotes.
Not as good as he was at acting as bait, you add grimly.
A tiny pinprick appeared in the void ahead... a light? You quicken your pace. Each step brings it closer: the sun, that promise of freedom from this accursed place. Your thoughts turn to what you're going to do once outside, back to the real world -- where you can pawn the jingling stash at your side, what debts to pay off first, and where to start spending the rest...
You're close now. You notice, with a start, that the beacon ahead is flickering. If not the sun, then -- another torch! As desperate as you were for company just a few moments ago, the presence of another person complicated things. No one would dare enter these ruins unless they were chasing wealth... like the wealth you obviously carried. But they may also know of a way out, and you did have a perfectly good knife in your sheath.
There was no sense in running; they knew you were here just as well as you did.
"Who are you?", you call. Your voice carries easily down the ancient halls, thrown from one torch-light to the other across the chasm of blackness.
No answer comes back. You hold your ground, but the other light continues to draw closer.
"Is there an exit back from where you came?", you ask. Still nothing. You can begin to pick out the stranger's form silhouetted in his flickering aura.
You let go of the bag containing your treasure, which slides over your shoulder and strikes the ground loudly. In an instant, the knife takes its place in your hand.
"Don't do anything stupid, pal." Silence. The two of you are only a few yards away now, and you squint against the flames to make out the other adventurer.
"Gerrick?", you exclaim, letting out your held breath with a chuckle, "By the Maker, man, why didn't you say anything?"
When you saw him last, blood was gushing from a half-dozen arrow wounds, courtesy of the trap he had so foolishly triggered. Now he no longer bled, but those same wounds were still visible.
Your voice continued to trail out, almost without your consent, but it grew weaker by the word, "How'd you even get here? There's no way you could've made it here without me. You were a goner. You--"
He was but a few feet away now, the spheres cast by your torches casting misshapen shadows where they overlapped.
Gerrick's eyes were empty, but his hand was not. Before you can react -- before anyone with mere human reflexes could react -- his sword was through your ribs and your journey was over.
---
Dead End Trap Instant -- Trap (U) If a spell or ability an opponent controls caused them to sacrifice a creature this turn, you may pay rather than pay Dead End Trap’s mana cost. Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Fada chose to carry more treasure instead of her fallen comrade. She left the ruins with neither.
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Go back the way you came
W-what? Why would you do that? That's dumb.
You trip on the bloody footprint you left behind you and crack your head open on the stone floor. You die instantly but painfully, and then a rat comes and pees all over your treasure.
Dragon's Hoard Trap Instant -- Trap (R) If a spell or ability an opponent controls caused them to gain control of a permanent you control this turn, you may pay rather than pay Dragon’s Hoard Trap’s mana cost. Create a 5/5 red Dragon creature token with flying. Those who choose to steal from a dragon are set for life — as short as it may be.
Territorial Trap Instant -- Trap (R) If a creature with power 5 or greater entered the battlefield under an opponent’s control this turn, you may pay rather than pay Territorial Trap’s mana cost. Put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. It fights target creature.
It's time to say farewell to Trap week, but not before I post something especially dumb:
Chamber of Perils Artifact (R) You may cast Trap cards from your hand for their alternative costs. “Being the head of an expedition has its perks: the respect of your team, a better share of the loot, being the last one into any unexplored ruins...” —Haddock, expedition leader
Alternative costs are defined in 117.9 of the Comprehensive Rules, so does this work? Possibly more difficult to determine, is it too weak/strong?
I don't like chamber of perils because it removes the mechanically interesting part of traps and turns them into just discounted spells.
That's fair. I wanted to make a card that could be used as the lynchpin of a trap deck. I wanted a card that made your traps easier to trigger, but since they all have such different triggers, this was the only feasible way of doing it. It's a Lord of the Unreal-style supporter than covers weaknesses rather than accentuating strengths.
But, yeah, I guess it kind of defeats the point of traps.
Firefight Instant (C) Firefight deals 3 damage to target creature. Wager with an opponent. If you win, Firefight deals 3 damage to that creature’s controller. (To wager, both players reveal cards from the top of their library until they choose to stop. The player whose revealed cards have a combined converted mana cost closest to 10 without going over wins the wager. Each player puts the revealed cards on the bottom of their library in a random order.)
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Firefight, n. A fight that takes place in front of fire
I know this is super dumb, but I love Western settings and I've been wanting to design a spellslinging cowboy set for ages.
I'm looking for a better name for the keyword action and maybe some more concise reminder text.
Joined: Sep 23, 2013 Posts: 5218 Location: California
I like wager as a name, but if not, gamble works. Either is better than clash.
Do you reveal all at once or go back and forth?
1. I reveal a card, opponent reveals a card, I reveal a card, opponent reveals a card, etc.
or
2. I reveal 7 cards then stop. Opponent then reveals 6 cards and stops.
or
3. We simultaneously reveal cards and choose to stop toether, which doesn't actually work mechanically I think.
Maybe instead of that process, you bid how many cards from the beginning, then reveal to see who's closest. So...
You and target opponent gamble. (Starting with you, each gambler bids a number of cards. Then each player reveals that many cards from the top of his or her library. The player whose cards have the highest total converted mana cost less than 11 wins the gamble. Then those cards are put on the bottom of their owner's libraries in a random order.)
I like wager as a name, but if not, gamble works. Either is better than clash.
Do you reveal all at once or go back and forth?
1. I reveal a card, opponent reveals a card, I reveal a card, opponent reveals a card, etc.
or
2. I reveal 7 cards then stop. Opponent then reveals 6 cards and stops.
or
3. We simultaneously reveal cards and choose to stop toether, which doesn't actually work mechanically I think.
Maybe instead of that process, you bid how many cards from the beginning, then reveal to see who's closest. So...
You and target opponent gamble. (Starting with you, each gambler bids a number of cards. Then each player reveals that many cards from the top of his or her library. The player whose cards have the highest total converted mana cost less than 11 wins the gamble. Then those cards are put on the bottom of their owner's libraries in a random order.)
Or not. IDK.
I think #2 is the way to go from a gameplay and practicality standpoint.
(Starting with you, each gambling player reveals cards from the top of their library until they choose to stop. The player whose cards have the highest total converted mana cost less than 11 wins the gamble. Then those cards are put on the bottom of their owner's libraries in a random order.)
Cradle Shepherd Creature -- Treefolk (R) Permanents you control that entered the battlefield this turn have hexproof. "There is no greater tragedy than a life gone unlived." 4/5
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This is a card I posted in the original Hoard of Notions back on the Mothership (R.I.P), adjusted for modern-day sensibilities. I liked it a lot, and figured some of you may not have seen it yet.
Green has an occasional theme of "please leave me alone while it's my turn", seen on cards like Dosan the Falling Leaf and Seedtime. This guy works similarly, forcing your opponents to delay their Murdering until their turn.
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