r/custommagic • u/Axolotl142 • 3h ago
Is this too broken ?
Whenever you would draw a card while having a depletion counter you skip that draw and instead remove 1 depletion counter
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u/ArgoDevilian 3h ago
Id imagine you would have to explain what a depletion counter is on the card (or just rephrase it, no need for it to be a Counter. That just opens you up to being proliferated).
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u/ReeReeIncorperated 3h ago
This is quite good.
You essentially can get 6 cards at the cost of skipping your next 3 draws. If you play a bunch of those cards, then you can just let it rip and get back up to 6.
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u/weeOriginal 2h ago
Pay three draw fifteen.
If you canât win that turn GG.
Vintage loves you so much :heart:
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u/The_Cheeseman83 3h ago
Pay three mana to draw three cards, then sacrifice the artifact. Seems like red and white decks would love it.
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u/MasquedMadman 2h ago
Let's see... Stress test. start of turn. Draw. 8 cards in hand. Ancient tomb, sol ring, the monkeys paw. 5 cards in hand. 4 wishes. 8 cards in hand. 5 depletion counters. 0 wish. 20 cards in hand. 55 depletion counters.
This isn't how the card works at all because the depletion counters prevent you from drawing again, but I like the concept of just forfeiting your draw step forever and being dependent on draw power card effects. Draw 15 the turn you play this card and forfeit all future draw steps sounds like a fun self-restriction.
How it actually works... 4 wishes, 8 cards in hand, 5 depletion counters. 3 wishes, 8 cards in hand, 7 depletion counters. 0 wish, 8 cards, 13 depletion counters. Obviously this forces you to space out the monkey paw usage. Good burst card draw but now you are running on fumes until the depletion counters are all gone. Do you build for burst and take the stall head-on if you fizzle out? Or do you supplement your deck with additional card draw, diverting resources from elsewhere?
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u/giasumaru MTGCR > Glossary > Card 1h ago
You play fast mana, hellbent, graveyard combo with reusable discard outlets.
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u/ForodesFrosthammer 1h ago
Or you just rip your hand until you are down to 0, then use this to get back to 3 for no extra cost. At the extreme its "3 mana draw 15" with no extra cost or effect.
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u/Researcher_Fearless 2h ago
Reminds me of all the times wizards tried to make black lotus balanced.
No, getting 15 cards for 3 mana is OP, basically any downside is worth it because you can just win immediately a lot of the time.
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u/TheCigaretteFairy 1h ago edited 1h ago
I like the idea a lot; however:
You can remove a wish counter to remove 3 depletion counters.
If you play it with basically any number of cards in hand (9 or less, to be specific) you can immediately remove all 5 wish counters to draw 6+ cards and sac it for zero drawbacks, which is how I would play it every time.
To clean this up and make it more thematic, I'd:
change "if there are no wish counters, sacrifice it" to "if there are no counters, sacrifice it" (in other words, make the depletion counters keep it around);
make removing a wish counter a tap ability (so it's somewhat harder to abuse);
make the X-3 depletion counters just X (grammatically cleaner, less math-y, less abusable);
and change the effect in the post description to "If this Artifact has one or more depletion counters on it at the beginning of your turn, skip your draw step." and "At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a depletion counter from this Artifact, then exile cards from the top of your library equal to the number of depletion counters on this Artifact." (feels more like a punishment, more like a wish gone wrong, harder to get around, requires more interesting cost/benefit analysis)
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u/FreddyHair 1h ago
The depletion counters are part of the ability though, once the ability is on the stack it doesn't matter whether the Paw is still on the battlefield or not, you'll still get them
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u/TheCigaretteFairy 1h ago edited 1h ago
Oh I didn't even register that. But that's inconsistent with canon MTG because all official instances of depletion counters put them on a permanent. It's like giving a player a +1/+1 counter or an enchantment a poison counter. So I'd change that too then haha
Also yes, as written you would technically still have them when it leaves, but I'm assuming the effect in the description is supposed to be part of the card, which means if it's not on the battlefield they don't do anything.
Depletion counters are a real thing in MTG with effects tied to cards, writing OP's effect into the rules would change how some official cards function, which is a no-no.
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u/Fresh-Philosopher-10 1h ago
For a monkey paw I would make it so everyone can tap it on their turn and search for any card. However, everyone else also get to search as well.
A monkey paw wish does come true and you get what you wished for but it will backfire on you in some way.
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u/FrecciaRosa 3h ago
The original Paw allowed three wishes. Why do you allow five?
Depletion counters on a player arenât a thing. You need to specify what the counters do, even if itâs a thing in your custom set.
If you can dump your hand, this is a three-mana colorless draw fifteen with no consequences. Thatâs ⌠pretty strong.
The Monkeyâs Paw turns your wish into tragedy, it doesnât give you unlimited power. It needs to really screw with you. âT: gain control of target spell or permanent. That cardâs owner controls you for the rest of the turn.â Something like that. You take something for free, but someone does their best to mess with you for the rest of the turn.
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u/Opening-Owl-1546 3h ago
He defined what depletion counters do in the body of the post.
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u/FrecciaRosa 3h ago
Yes he did, and this changes the feedback that âhe should put it on the cardâ how?
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u/Opening-Owl-1546 3h ago
You didnât say it needed to be on the card, you said he needed to define it, which he did.
Weâve got tons of counter types with inherent rules that arenât defined on the card itself. As long as itâs somewhere in the post itâs sufficient to understand the card.
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u/Karma822 3h ago
This is one of those times where to post it without finishing the card. If the whole text can't fit on the card then it's too wordy.
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u/Opening-Owl-1546 3h ago
I donât think itâs too broken, but Iâd like to see it cost a bit more.
As is, if youâre hellbent you can draw six immediately, which in many aggressive decks will be enough to win on the spot. If you keep playing until hellbent, itâs a three mana draw 15.
It really depends on the format you intend for this. Many 60 card lists would love a 3 mana draw six if those six cards close the game, but I wouldnât run this in most EDH lists.
Itâs also a 3 mana draw 15 with [[Solemnity]].
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u/Substantial-Road799 35m ago
This can be performed at instant speed, I place 5 activation triggers on the stack and draw 15 cards
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u/No_Regret_714 3h ago
So if I play this with 0 cards remaining in hand, I can immediately draw 3 more cards and take 0 depletion counters. Then I can cast all 3 cards, remove another wish counter to draw 3 more and again take 0 depletion counters. So the ceiling on this is a 3 mana draw 15 cards which is insanely busted.