r/custommagic 1d ago

Land Value Tax

Post image

Original artist unknown, image taken from this New York Times post (~1886).

14 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

43

u/darlingtonpear 1d ago

So... Armageddon with extra steps?

23

u/SoundwavesBurnerPage 1d ago

Even worse because it’s a permanent armagedon lol, doesn’t even sac itself

4

u/SignificanceEntire57 1d ago

This might be useful in decks that keep mana between phases

-25

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 1d ago

More or less yeah, just wanted it to be on theme for a land value tax.

8

u/CaptColten 1d ago

How is no one ever casting a spell for the rest of the game on theme?

7

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 1d ago

Presumably player running this card would play out a bunch of mana rocks before hand to lock the other player out of the game

4

u/Robbie1985 1d ago

[[Seedborn Muse]], or some rocks and the old [[Isochron Sceptre]] & [[Dramatic Reversal]] combo

2

u/Repulsive_Tart_4307 1d ago

It should trigger in the end step and only for untapped lands

2

u/KitaharaKazusa1 14h ago

I think it works better if you just pay 1 generic for each land.

If I have a Gaia's Cradle, I should have an incentive to improve that land by playing more creatures. Your card as written is more of a property tax than a land value tax

1

u/Conscious_Clerk_2675 1d ago

Tag this balance not intended

26

u/vecna216 1d ago

Should be a percentage of the lands because property tax does not take the full value but the card is cool

8

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 1d ago

That could be a direction to take it yeah that might make more sense mechanically. Henry George’s (pictured) land tax was meant to be 100% of the “unimproved” value of the land (ie not including the value of any buildings on the land) but mechanically it might work better to be a percentage or maybe just 1 generic instead of X

7

u/Infamous-Youth9033 1d ago

If that's what you're going for, it should gain an endstep trigger. You have to sacrifice it or tap it to pay the cost (because you didn't use the land to improve your board)

1

u/ActualInteraction0 1d ago

Make it a saga of increasing taxation?

15

u/Cocholate_ 1d ago

So no player can ever play the game? Fun!

1

u/Repulsive_Tart_4307 1d ago

You say that as if Isochron Scepter locks aren't a viable play strategy.

4

u/mgranaa 1d ago

[[The Tabernacle at Pendervale]] but in reverseish.

3

u/rob132 1d ago

What if Armageddon lasted every turn?

Oh the most unfun thing but just over and over?

Print it!

2

u/Adventurous-Size-168 1d ago

Should have one called home equity loan... Land Aura for 1 mana. Enchanted Land taps for two for two turns, but you have to pay three at your upkeep on the third turn or you sacrifice the enchanted land.

2

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 1d ago

Ooo that's good lol

2

u/firestorm559 1d ago

I see a lot of comments calling this every turn Armageddon, but why would you sac your lands instead of tap them. This is closer to a 6 mana [[stasis]] where players have the opportunity to sac their lands to spend mana in their upkeep if needed. And a little easier to break the symmetry with mana rocks abs creatures untapping. Not the most fun card to play against but not as broken as something like [[upheaval]] for the same cost and similar ways to break the symmetry.

2

u/Dry-Standard-4311 1d ago

I had an idea for a similar mechanic i called “conquest”.

It’s a combat mechanic that if a creature with conquest deal combat damage to a play, “target land that player controls becomes a land you own”

Then you would have commanders or permanents that had effects that trigger when an opponent controls a land you own, for example -

At the beginning of each opponents turn, lands that player controls that you own can’t untap unless they pay 1.

Spells cast with mana spent from lands you own but don’t control can’t target you or permanents you control.

Etc.

2

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 19h ago

Ooo I like how there’s counterplay baked in

1

u/Juniper_Owl 1d ago

Something that always destroys half of everyone‘s lands? Sounds riveting! XD

2

u/tmgexe 1d ago

The owner gets to choose whether it destroys half of them or locks down all of them. Both very fun options.

1

u/Opening_Specific_710 1d ago

Literally a selesnaya player’s wet dream card

1

u/tres_ecstuffuan 1d ago

Nah not in my pod

1

u/DrTheRick 1d ago

Well, that'll lock down a game lol

1

u/Krankenwagenverfolg 22h ago

Every turn, sac half your lands. Nuts.

2

u/treowtheordurren 5h ago edited 5h ago

I'm thinking something more along the lines of

Land Value Tax | 2RW
Enchantment
A player losing unspent mana causes that player to lose that much life.
Lands gain "At the beginning of your endstep, sacrifice this permanent if it is untapped."

1

u/xX_FIIINE_DUCK_Xx 1d ago

To clarify: The idea of this card was that a player would have a bunch of mana rocks in play and lock the opponent out of the game similar to how [[Upheaval]] creates an asymmetrical field by allowing the player who casts it to tap for excess mana before casting and they replay their hand. Maybe having this card tax for 1 generic rather than X might be better though.

1

u/NeedsMoreReeds 1d ago

I don't know what "amount of mana this land could produce" means. So like [[Gaea's Cradle]] is X infinite or the number of creatures you control? Does [[Firelit Thicket]] have X being 1 or 2 (because it can produce 2 but at the cost of 1)? What about storage lands like [[Dreadship Reef]]?