MtG: YMTC challenge VI: Companion Did Nothing Wrong

[Laughing Dog]

This is actually something I could see Wizards printing in an unset. Albeit with a higher mana cost, mind you. That said two creatures on a single card, that you would have to block each individually? The main question is what would happen if one of them was killed; would the other die as well?

Goblin Ordinance Technician 2R
[The image is of a goblin's face, black with soot as though a cartoon explosive went off in it's face]
Creature- Goblin Rigger R (Silver-bordered
T,: ~ deals 1 damage to all creatures, players, and planeswalkers. For each permanent or player that would be dealt damage this way, flip a coin. For each heads, ~ deals 2 damage instead.
0/2

Challenge: Something punny!

[Ironsmith]

Goblin Ordinance Technician 2R
[The image is of a goblin's face, black with soot as though a cartoon explosive went off in it's face]
Creature- Goblin Rigger R (Silver-bordered
T,: ~ deals 1 damage to all creatures, players, and planeswalkers. For each permanent or player that would be dealt damage this way, flip a coin. For each heads, ~ deals 2 damage instead.
0/2

So, thr basic concept looks good, but I have some concerns regarding practicality. If this is used on a sufficiently crowded board, the game can be brought to a halt as the player has to flip a coin for each card. Could it perhaps be condensed down into one flip, so that it causes either a small or large explosion?

Challenge: Something punny!

Diced Goblin RRR
Creature - Goblin Horror (U)
During your Upkeep step, roll a 6-sided die. Diced Goblin has X/7-X until your next Upkeep step, where X is the die result.
1/1

Challenge! More RNG!

[Quiddle]

During your Upkeep step, roll a 6-sided die. Diced Goblin has X/7-X until your next Upkeep step, where X is the die result.


+x/ +7-x
? You need to be more clear what this means. I Don't like this design very much.


Stroke of Luck 1R
Instant U
As an additional cost to play Stroke of Luck discard a card.
Shuffle Stroke of luck into your deck then draw two card. If either of those cards are named Stroke of Luck you may discard it, if you do Stroke of Luck deals 10 damage to each opponent.

Edit: I didn't mean for it to need to be the one shuffled back, change the wording to card named ~.

Next a card that shuffles a library or a card that discards, or a creature with first strike. Bonus points for an activated ability on an instant or sorcery.

[ben-zayb]

It is barely functional because there's no way to know if any Stroke of Luck card you draw was the right Stroke of Luck object, if it retains that property as the object at all, so it only works right if you have exactly one in your deck. It needs something like using the term "a card named X", or a rules text that limits this to one per deck.

Anachroknight UB
Creature - Spellshaper Knight U
First Strike
UB, Discard a card: Put ~ from your hand into the battlefield. It gains haste until end of turn. Shuffle it into your library at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield.
2/2

Make another portmanteau, or just a card with the word "portmanteau" somewhere. Should be nonblue, nonred.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

I keep reading this as, 'Arachnoknight,' and being disappointed that it's not a spider. Also I don't think it's blue at all? The activated ability is an expensive edition of the Kolaghan Dash mechanic, and blue doesn't care about knights outside of Eldraine or first strike outside of pirates.

Port Monteau
(This side shows a red brick road by the docks. A foggy mountain looms in the background.)
Land - U (Probably the symbol for some Return to Shadowmoor kind of set)
You may have Port Monteau enter the battlefield transformed.
T: Add U. Transform Port Monteau.
///
Monteau Port
(A cliffside trading post overlooks the area from before, which seems to have submerged with the tide.)
Land
T: Add R. Transform Monteau Port.
(Lands are colorless, so technically this card is neither red nor blue.)

Bonus:
Arachnoknight - GG
Creature - Spider Knight C
Reach
Whenever Arachnoknight blocks or is blocked by a creature with flying, Arachnoknight gains first strike until end of turn.
2/3

Challenge! Make a non-transforming werewolf.

[Ironsmith]

Port Monteau
(This side shows a red brick road by the docks. A foggy mountain looms in the background.)
Land - U (Probably the symbol for some Return to Shadowmoor kind of set)
You may have Port Monteau enter the battlefield transformed.
T: Add U. Transform Port Monteau.
///
Monteau Port
(A cliffside trading post overlooks the area from before, which seems to have submerged with the tide.)
Land
T: Add R. Transform Monteau Port.
(Lands are colorless, so technically this card is neither red nor blue.)

A little cheeky, but I like it. My question for you is this, though... Why would you ever use this over a standard dual-color land, or even a gate? It only gives the same amount of mana, the same number of options, but spaces them out and gives you less control.

Challenge! Make a non-transforming werewolf.

Zylo Moonmad 3[R/G]
Legendary Creature - Werewolf Warrior (U)
During your Upkeep step, you may pay {2}. If you do not, Zylo Moonmad gains +2/+2 until the end of the turn, and fights another creature on the field with the highest power (if there is a tie, your opponent picks which creature is fought).
4/3
"Let me at 'em, let me at 'em!"

Challenge! Genesis. (Interpret that how you will.)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Why would you ever use this over a standard dual-color land, or even a gate? It only gives the same amount of mana, the same number of options, but spaces them out and gives you less control.

I'm very glad you're asking that because I was worried it would have the opposite problem. It enters untapped and lets you pick the color you need right away without having to set up or pay anything! That's sometimes enough on its own, isn't it? Plus, unlike Crumbling Vestige, it still fixes your mana at least half the time afterwards, more so if you can plan your tap sequence based on what you might draw.

(Also, I probably need to change the transform to be part of the cost. I think being a mana ability makes it act really weird otherwise.)

[Tom the Mime]

Edit: Ninja'ed
Because it doesn't enter the battlefield tapped and that's kind of a big deal. In 2 colour decks, I'd almost always run it over gates and I'd be very tempted to run it over scrylands in aggro. I doubt I'd use it over shocklands, checklands (maybe for very specific aggro decks with minimal colour weight and some hybrid mana) or fetchlands but it'd be a staple in 2 coloured standard decks.

Seems too oppressive until you see that it's not limited to creatures your opponent controls so it might be okay. If you can give it hexproof, it gets nasty in a bogles deck.

Shared Origin 2GG
Sorcery - R
Starting with the player on your left, each player may search their library for a creature with a lower converted mana cost than the creature with the highest converted mana cost on the battlefield and put it on the battlefield.

Challenge: Be creative with a land that enters the battlefield tapped

[Quiddle]

This is neat, usually I imagine it will be used to find a low cmc combo piece similar to green sun/Neoform.

Fields of Summer
Legendary Land R
~ enters the battle field tapped.
T: Add W
Whenever you cast a white creature spell untap ~.


Make another rare land card, bonus points if it is one the same power level as Field of Summer.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Legendary lands aren't used anymore; lands are meant to provide needed resources over time; having them be hard to draw or dead in your hand is a problem even when they are this overpowered. It's interesting in a fair-play weenie deck, but you made it legendary because you already know it's only going to be used for infinite combos and/or to play your entire hand on turn 2.

Fasterbond
Land - MR
T: Put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.

Spoiler: Yet, my hand, it trembles...

Show

Fastestbond
Legendary Land - Forest Island Swamp Locus Lair - Ultra-mega-mythic ($52,000,000.49 on CardKingdom.com)
T, sacrifice Fastestbond: Search your library for any number of land cards, put them onto the battlefield and untap them. Then shuffle your library.
Game 2?

Challenge! Stomachs!

[Quiddle]

I think having legendary lands is good design. Inherently the cost of running powerful lands is less because they are often harder to interact with and cost nothing to play. I think if things like field of the dead were legendary it would be a lot fairer. Having some be dead in hand is the cost of playing more powerful cards and I think promotes thought being put into deck building.

[Ironsmith]

I think having legendary lands is good design. Inherently the cost of running powerful lands is less because they are often harder to interact with and cost nothing to play. I think if things like field of the dead were legendary it would be a lot fairer. Having some be dead in hand is the cost of playing more powerful cards and I think promotes thought being put into deck building.

Not as much as you might think. If you have a land like this that's just a straight upgrade from its basic counterpart, you can just throw a copy of it in your deck and that's the end of it. You don't have to worry about drawing it redundantly with only one copy, and your deck improves just because you happen to have it in your collection. There's no reason not to use it if you have it. If you do want to make a legendary land, it should do something unique and carve out its own niche away from the basics (like Eye Of Ugin or Dark Depths) or carry extra requirements that make running basic lands more useful in some situations (like Sanctum Of The Sun; you have to run five colors to use it, so it's not something you'd just throw in any old deck).

Fasterbond
Land - MR
T: Put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.

Oof. Not even limited to basic lands? This is how you get everything out on turn 2. I mean, obviously, that was kind of the point, but even so... Oof. At least it's rare and expensive.

Challenge! Stomachs!

Sarlacc Pit
Legendary Land (R)
As an additional cost to play Sarlacc Pit, exile a creature you control.
>T: Add R to your mana pool.
>T, Pay {2}: Until the start of your next turn, creatures which would be sent to the graveyard are exiled instead.

Challenge! More Star Wars, por favor.

[Quiddle]

Sarlacc Pit
Legendary Land (R)
As an additional cost to play Sarlacc Pit, exile a creature you control.
>T: Add R to your mana pool.
>T, Pay {2}: Until the start of your next turn, creatures which would be sent to the graveyard are exiled instead.

Is the sarlacc pit legendary? Aren't there more than one Sarlacc?
Exiling a creature you control is a big price for a land, the pay off would need to be decent.
Taps for red? Sacrificing a creature is a black effect.
2, T This effect is niche enough that if you increase the cost a bit it should be fine. So I guess you are only exiling a creature to get the untapped land? Idk feels a little weak to me.

Fated Betrayal RRB
Sorcery U
Gain control of target creature you don't control until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. Then it fights another target creature.
He will bring balance to the force.

Make a card that has ties to a ghost, or a card that you would be okay discarding, or a card that makes a token.

[ben-zayb]

Despite being costed BRR, it feels more black-heavy than red because you can easily get double removal. Red generally pits your own creature against an opponent's, so combining it with red's temporary insanity effect feels too disgusting, which was the point I guess.

Midnight Echoes 2BB
Sorcery U
For each creature card in your graveyard, investigate. Then, target player discards a card for each Clue you control.
Madness BB

Make a card based on a non-CCG card.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

This is interesting! In constructed, it doesn't take much setup to blow away your opponent's hand and flood the board with mana sinks. That might be fine, but it feels like a big enough splash to be worth five or six mana. The madness cost plays well into the deck that sets it up, and the steep discount leads to interesting decisions; it won't work unless you discard a bunch of other stuff first. It stacks with investigate as well as the graveyard, which makes it way better in limited, which is cool. I'm mostly worried about the balance point for the cost. And the name, as far as that goes. You're gathering clues from your team's corpses, but all your clues drive your opponent mad, and somehow this adds up to echoes at midnight?

Pilot's Degree - 3
Artifact - Equipment U
When Pilot's Degree enters the battlefield, you may search your library and/or graveyard for a Vehicle card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you searched your library this way, shuffle it.
Equipped creature has, "T: Target Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn."
Equip 2

Challenge! Make a card based on a video game?

[Tom the Mime]

3 mana for a very specific tutor and then a guaranteed crew seems fair compared with other tutors. How good it is really depends on the vehicles available.

Fetch Quest G
Enchantment U
Whenever you search your library for a card, put a quest counter on Fetch Quest.
Remove X quest counters from Fetch Quest and sacrifice it: Create X treasure tokens

Challenge: Another quest

[Quiddle]

Neat, this seems crazy good with fetch lands but otherwise is balanced. I think for it to be good value you need to get 2-3 tresures which should be enough of a challenge for the card to be okay while not being absolute bonkers.

Hold the Line 2W
Enchantment U
At the beginning of your opponent's end step if you didn't take damage this turn put a quest counter on Hold the Line.
At the beginning of your upkeep if there are 3 or more quest counters on Hold the Line sacrifice, if you do create 3 2/2 white knight tokens with vigilance.


Make a card that can be hard to prevent, a card that has more than one target, or a card that can make a player feel bad.

[mythmonster2]

Hold the Line 2W
Enchantment U
At the beginning of your opponent's end step if you didn't take damage this turn put a quest counter on Hold the Line.
At the beginning of your upkeep if there are 3 or more quest counters on Hold the Line sacrifice, if you do create 3 2/2 white knight tokens with vigilance.

This could be quite good in commander, where it wouldn't be too uncommon to pop this after two turn cycles or even one, if you get lucky. In a two player format, though, this would be tricky against most decks except things like creatureless control, and those decks probably have ways to get rid of this.

Deceitful Contract 2BBB
Sorcery (R)
Target player creates a 4/4 black Demon creature token with flying and "When this creature dies, you lose 10 life."

Challenge: A demon with white in its casting cost!

[enderlord99]

It's kinda rare to have tokens in a set that can only be produced by a single card in that set, and if there are other cards that make that token... that would be almost as odd. Otherwise, great design!

Spoiler: Going for something truly excessive, because I want to

Show

Demon of Eternity - (3)(W)(U)(B)(R)(G)
Creature - Demon (M)
You may cast ~ from your graveyard, but not from anywhere else.
As an additional cost to cast ~, pay 6 life and exile a creature you control, a card from your hand, and 4 other cards from your graveyard.
Flying, Hexproof, Trample
Players can't win or lose the game.
6/6

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

It's excessive alright! The huge cost is obviously intended. I'm actually worried more about how little it does once it does come out. The big Escape titans from that one Theros set give you the same power and toughness, an enters-the-battlefield effect worth about as much as those keywords, and a way to get themselves into the graveyard and generate value as early as turn 2. Plus, you can actually win the game with them! Your guy has a ways to go before he can compete with all of that.

Demon General - 2WBB
Creature - Demon R
Flying
1, Sacrifice a creature: Demon General gains Indestructible until end of turn. Untap it.
Morale is subordinate to glory.
5/5

Challenge! Make a card that represents something being sent a long distance.

[Tom the Mime]

Very strong but not too far. Less abilities and player survivability than baneslayer angel but a bit harder to get rid of, at a cost. The fact that I'm comparing it to baneslayer angel gives an idea of the high power bracket it's in though.

Goblin Flight Academy 1R
Image of a goblin crawling into a cannon
Artifact U
T: Target creature you control gains haste and flying until end of turn and cannot activate it's activated abilities. Sacrifice that creature at the beginning of the next end step.
The goblin flight academy notably does not include a lesson on landing

Challenge: Something not going far

[mythmonster2]

Goblin Flight Academy 1R
Image of a goblin crawling into a cannon
Artifact U
T: Target creature you control gains haste and flying until end of turn and cannot activate it's activated abilities. Sacrifice that creature at the beginning of the next end step.
The goblin flight academy notably does not include a lesson on landing

Challenge: Something not going far

Feels very goblin-y. This could be a big blowout if you get out a huge creature, or one with some powerful "on attack" effects. If you're doing it right, the downside won't even matter all that much. I think this might just be strong enough to warrant an extra mana.

Encased in Crystal 1W
Enchantment- Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +0/+3 and gains defender. Its activated abilities can't be activated.

Challenge: A split card!

[BasketOfPuppies]

Guard Duty puts “gains defender” at 1 mana. Comparing Arrest to Pacifism gives “loses abilities” at 1 mana. Putting those together, and the fact that +0/+3 is freaking brutal to give to your opponent in limited, I think that the toughness boost could be dropped.

Pop 1R
Instant C
Destroy target artifact.
//
Lock U
Instant C
Tap target nonland permanent. It doesn’t untap during its controllers next untap step.

Challenge: a common.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Pop or Lock is pretty straightforward. It's fine. Destroying artifacts and freezing creatures are popular split card options for a reason.

One Foot in the Grave - 2B
Enchantment - Aura C
Enchant Creature
When this enchantment enters the battlefield, return up to one target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.

Challenge! ETB effects on noncreature permanents!

[Quiddle]

Dead Weight + Raise Dead. Seems like a fine 3 mana spell. Nice job.

Opulence 2BB
[a shadowy ruler holds a stunning scepter while sitting on a raised thrown, below people offer gifts]
Legendary Artifact MR
Echo 3BB
At the beginning of your upkeep you may pay 2B, if you do exile ~ then return it to the battlefield.
When ~ enters the battlefield each opponent loses 2 life and you gain life equal the to life lost this way.
T:Each opponent exiles a card from their hand. You may cast those cards for as long as they remain in exile and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast them. Activate this ability only if ~'s Echo cost has been paid.


Next make a card that is card disadvantage.

[ben-zayb]

I dunno. I feel it's trying to do a lot of different things all at once, which is fine if there's a solid mechanical interpretation of the theme. Abilities 1 and 4 work together, as do 2 and 3. But aside from upkeep triggers, the 2 sets of effects don't really mesh well and are just two distinct flavors of opulence. Really, you'll be getting this just for ability 4.

Ancestral Mix-up U
Instant R
Target player draws three cards, then shuffles four cards from their hand into their library.

How worse is this than Brainstorm?

Make a card that is a reference to another boon card (i.e. lightning bolt, dark ritual, giant growth, or healing salve)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

The weirdest part of this card is that it's not really bad. There is a kind of deck that holds onto a full hand for most of the game, and this would support it in concert with recent sets' card-drawing synergy themes. Most decks don't really want this, but there might be just enough that do, which is exactly what a design should go for, I think.

Giant Ritual - BG
Instant - U
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Add BBB.

Challenge! Something upside-down.

[LastCenturion]

Giant Ritual - BG
Instant - U
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Add BBB.

This seems broken. I realize that the need of a creature to target is a major drawback, and that three mana for two isn't too bad, but I still think it's a mistake to have something like this in, say, Legacy: Turn one DRS into turn 2 Giant Ritual is five mana, which is a little ahead of where I feel like things should be. That said, it's a clever design and I think it could be decent if went a little further. Maybe add in Healing Salve as well?

Challenge! Something upside-down.

˙uʍop ʇǝƃ oʇ ʍoɥ ʍouʞ ʇ,upᴉp ǝɥs ʇnq 'unɟ ƃuᴉʌɐɥ ɹǝƃuol ou sɐʍ ǝɥS
(˙suǝddɐɥ ʇɐɥʇ uǝɥʍ uʍop-ǝpᴉsuʍop ƃuᴉɥʇʎɹǝʌǝ uɹn┴ ˙plǝᴉɟǝlʇʇɐq ǝɥʇ sǝʌɐǝl ʎʇᴉʌɐɹפ ǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝɥʍ spuǝ ʇɔǝɟɟǝ sᴉɥ┴)˙uʍop-ǝpᴉsdn sᴉ ʇuǝuɐɯɹǝd ɹǝɥʇo ɥɔɐƎ
˙pǝddɐʍs ǝɹɐ ssǝuɥƃnoʇ puɐ ɹǝʍod s,ǝɹnʇɐǝɹɔ ɥɔɐƎ
(ɹǝpɹoq ɹǝʌlᴉs) ǝɹɐɹ -- ʇuǝɯʇuɐɥɔuƎ
∩Ɛ -- ʎʇᴉʌɐɹפ ǝsɹǝʌǝɹ

ǝdʎʇqns ǝɹnʇɐǝɹɔ-uou ɐ ʇnoqɐ sǝɹɐɔ ʇɐɥʇ ɹǝʞlɐʍsǝuɐld ∀ :ǝƃuǝllɐɥƆ

[Quiddle]

This is an amazing uncard, I especially appreciate the flavor text!

Karn, Urza's Legacy 3
Planeswalker - Karn R
[7]: Put 5 loyalty counters on Karn, Urza's Legacy.
-1: Search your library for a Urza's Mine, Urza's Tower, or Urza's Power plant land and put it into your hand then shuffle your library.
-7: Search your library for a non-creature artifact and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
3


Next make a non-creature artifact or a card that does damage to you, or a card that erases mistakes. Bonus points if the card beats up on tron.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

These are three very interesting ideas, and theoretically I like how they all fit together into a good ol' Urzatron. The actual use it would get is probably as a 10-mana Win The Game Immediately card, which is significantly crustier. It might just be a matter of tweaking numbers to make the concept fit together without going off all at once too easily.

Primeval Fountain - 1G
The city surrounding this huge fountain is now an overgrown jungle.
Artifact - R
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, for each nonbasic land that player controls, that player sacrifices it unless they pay 2 life. If it's sacrificed this way, its controller creates a basic Forest land token.
Built to erase mankind's mistakes.

Challenge! Make a blue creature that costs 1 mana to cast and that has an activated ability that doesn't cause it to tap.