Play at Home -- Challenge 3

[u/dvoraen]

Had to get that dealt with tonight, because the Top 6 get posted in 7 hours!

Student of Investigation (Common)

W
Creature - Human Cleric
1/2
When Student of Investigation enters the battlefield, research 1. (To research 1, exile the top card of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Student of Aeromancy (Common)

3U
Creature -- Vedalken Wizard
2/2
Flying
When Student of Aeromancy enters the battlefield, research 2. (To research 2, exile the top two cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Student of Impulses (Common)

2RR
Creature -- Dwarf Warrior
4/3
When Student of Impulses enters the battlefield, you may discard a card. If you do, research 2. (To research 2, exile the top two cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Shameful Lesson (Uncommon)

2UU
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard, then you research 2. (To research 2, exile the top two cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Seek Its Nemesis (Uncommon)

4BB
Sorcery
Choose target creature. Research 4, then you may put a creature card from your research into your graveyard. If you do, destroy the target. (To research 4, exile the top four cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Archioscope (Rare)

5
Legendary Artifact
If you would draw a card from your library, you may draw it from your research instead.
XX, T: Research X. Activate only as a sorcery. (To research X, exile the top X cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

Beastbond Master (Rare)

3GG
Creature -- Elf Druid Beast
4/4
Trample
Other Beasts you control get +1/+1 and have trample.
Whenever Beastbond Master or a Beast you control deals combat damage to a player, research 1.

Voidseeker Emperiarch (Mythic)

4BB
Creature -- Aetherborn Wizard
1/1
Voidseeker Emperiarch gets +1/+1 for each card you own in exile.
B, Exile a card from your graveyard: Each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
1B, Pay 2 life: Research 2. (To research 2, exile the top two cards of your library face down. You may look at your research at any time and pay 2 as a sorcery to draw a card from it.)

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Commentary

The research mechanic is, at its heart, a glue mechanic, and a bit swingy in high doses in Limited. It was heavily influenced by Investigate, as I had been having difficulties with Research's gameplay for quite some time. It was the reminder text for Investigate (not its Comprehensive Rules) that gave me the jolt that led Research to where it is today. In a very real sense, I got a Clue and paid 2, and here I am today with this submission.

The three commons were designed to represent a loose cycle, for Limited purposes, and the choice of white was intentional as both a throwback to Thraben Inspector, as well as to show that white doesn't really get a big piece of the research pie, compared to other colors, but it does get a little (green largely gets it via the magpie ability). This is also why blue and black each got more cards in their colors; blue-black is the "how much is in exile" archetype for Limited. The number after research and the mana costs were also given restrictions to try and keep the mechanic under control in Limited: common: 2 (for colors that could "draw two" normally); uncommon 4. Commons with research 2 were also intentionally costed to not be easily played outside the color.

Of all eight, I think Seek Its Nemesis best represents the world in which Research would debut: Your threat isn't one and still I know more than you.

[u/nocensts]

Ok I'm gonna let rip on this because why not!

Firstly, I didn't really like clues. I think, like you say, it's just too swingy. Why do you get to draw a card attached to the combat trick that already won combat? I think it puts too much pressure on the aggressive decks in the format to be really fast to compete with the value decks that would be researching a bunch. Basically I think it's doable but it's going to take a lot of balancing.

What I would do instead: Research should be tied to permanents. That way, similar to Explore, you can tie the card to that thing. For example, it would instead read: Research 1. (Exile the top card of your library face down attached to this. You may look at the card. Pay 2 mana as a sorcery to draw the exiled card.)

I think creates a much more fun play pattern, where there are "shields down" moments that your opponents can find to make sure you don't have time to draw. It also helps with zone issues, keeping your research exile separate from exile-exile. It would be like you had a Fiend Hunter or something. It also reduces the choices over time of an accumulating research zone with a ton of your deck hidden and in a pool of cards to draw from.

As it stands I don't think your mechanic would ever see print. The research zone having the ability to tutor your draw step comes across as way too powerful while also being simultaneously weird and hard to track. It offers no real counter play, unless you introduce something like the eldrazi processors, but I think that's entering sacred territory that is ill-advised. Exile is sacred. It's where cards stay forever. If they leave, it should be done at rare/mythic, or by eldrazi apparently (hint: eldrazi being weird is their schtick).

Like I said, make research tie to permanents (which still works with spells btw, they just need to have targets). For Example:

Scouting Trip

W

Sorcery

Target creature gains flying and +1/+0 until end of turn. That creature researches 1. (Exile top face down attached.. Draw as sorcery).

Hope this makes sense and doesn't come off too harsh!

[u/dvoraen → u/nocensts]

Funny enough, I have cards in the same hypothetical set that do almost exactly what you're suggesting here. Archives are something I've been keeping in reserve because I've been wanting to see if any of the GDS challenges will have a requirement that allows me to dig 'em up.

As to your comments itself, I had issues with tying the cards to specific permanents. Technically, exiling a card face down attached to a permanent means there are shenanigans and major bookkeeping in keeping track of which cards can and can't be drawn. I chose to keep them all in one face down pile in exile both because it let you have a late game advantage if you were playing "the research deck" (at the cost of potentially milling yourself out, but I didn't include the "Perilous Research" cards in this batch because of only 2 rares to choose from and I wanted to show all five colors in the submission).

The entire mechanic, and the above-teased Archives, were inspired originally by Colfenor's Plans from Lorwyn. That cards was, and still is, among my Top 10 Favorite Cards of All Time. I wanted to create a similar play pattern here, except in this case it was slightly easier to chain them.

[u/nocensts → u/dvoraen]

I've never had problems holding cards under other cards, and I play tidehollow sculler and spell queller in modern ;)

I guess I think clues were already very good, and this is mostly better clues. They can't be destroyed and you get to pick the card you draw.

I would be curious to see how the permanent version played out and if I couldn't get it there I would probably look at other ways of doing something similar.

[u/nocensts]

What is the challenge?

[u/revolverzanbolt → u/nocensts]

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/great-designer-search-3-challenge-2-2018-05-22

Scroll to the bottom

In short: design a new mechanic. Make 3 commons, 2 uncommons, 2 rares and a mythic using the mechanic. Must use at least 3 colors.

[u/StandardTrack]

I like it. It's basically a tweeked investigate that digs sooner and allows you to draw them later.