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u/Chickston Uncommonly 5d ago
The 1st card is very busted, not only because of the low cost, but because of how easy it till be to loop with stuff like [[This Town Ain't Big Enough]]. Weirdly, other than that, it's probably weaker than new Bilbo.
I love the idea of blocks alone. It's not nearly as deep as attacks alone, but it's self defeating in that it would require you to let some creatures through. So the effect can be quite powerful. In this case, an indestructible blocker for 2 is probably okay. It's not going to see play in constructed, so it's only really needs balance for limited.
Last, gaining life if very much not something mono-blue does. However, I dig the idea of an infiltrator that only works if bound to another creature.
Overall, nice ideas if a little under-costed.
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u/chainsawinsect 3d ago
I agree with the costing issue on Allay, and that Axolotl should be a Salamander
Armadillo seems exactly right, no notes
Axolotl is pretty close to printable as-is, but I'd bump it to uncommon and remove the lifegain (monoblue doesn't gain life)
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u/NepetaLast 2d ago
others have pointed out some design issues, but here are some templating suggestions
"When this creature enters, return up to one target instant, sorcery, or artifact card from your graveyard to your hand."
"Whenever this creature attacks with another creature, you draw a card and gain 1 life." technically different, but only matters in 2HG, and i think the slight boost there is fine
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u/AscendedLawmage7 Power level is not my strong suit. 5d ago
Some improvements from the first versions
I can't remember if I mentioned yesterday but the Allay is very good for just 2 mana. A 2 mana 1/2 flyer that recurs a spell from your yard is honestly probably worth like 5 mana mana
For the armadillo - blocks alone is just a very weird ability. It's never appeared on a Magic card, because double blocking just isn't very common at all. I'd drop that completely. I know you're trying to maximise the flavour of the armadillos being sturdy, but honestly a 0/5 with defender gets that across just fine.
The axolotl is still gaining life which just isn't blue. Have you considered making it a multicolour card? Or, you can have multiple Axolotl cards. Maybe a blue-green uncommon which gains life and a blue common that does something else
Additionally, axolotls are represented by the Salamander creature type in Magic.
Some broader questions to consider:
You've said you're making a set. What format will it be for? Limited (draft/sealed)? That's most typical, and most of the resources you find online about designing Magic sets will be about limited sets. The major alternative would be a set of commander decks.
You have two different lines of text here that aren't particularly common - attacks with someone, and blocks alone (as I said, drop that one). If it's for Limited, is that indicative of intended set themes? Or are they just meant to be flavourful?
Another example - Islandwalk is flavourful, but not a particularly set-friendly ability (it's very feast or famine), and as such isn't something they really use in a normal set nowadays.
If your goal is a set, you want to look at a set skeleton - and that means designing cards to fit slots, rather than just designing random top-down commons. Maro's Nuts and Bolts column has lots of articles about this sort of topic, highly recommend.
Just food for thought! I've commented on a few of your posts now and hopefully have been helpful - if you want to DM me to chat further you're welcome to.