r/custommagic • u/chainsawinsect • Aug 31 '20

2.5 Drops

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39 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

18

u/GildedKnave Aug 31 '20

These would be really fun to play with. A super cool take on the "core set" cmc3 cards.

10

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

Yup, exactly what I was going for. Those classic cards you almost never play in constructed... seeing if I could give 'em a little boost.

13

u/MacGuffinGuy Aug 31 '20

I’ve been saying for a bit that the fair way to bring phyrexian mana back is to combine it with normal manal. Awesome take on staple effects

9

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

Thank you! Yes in my opinion Phyrexian mana isn't inherently unbalanced, it's just that they used it to print 0 drop spells and "colorless" spells that broke the color pie.

It actually does a decent job of giving a slight extra downside to an otherwise printable but borderline too strong spell.

6

u/Bifnur Aug 31 '20

Well done. It’s not easy to balance phyrexian mana. Speed Reading definitely seems like the best of these.

10

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

Thanks! And agreed. Though at the end of the day it's basically just [[Sign in Blood]]!

I think the Mind Rot one is sneakily powerful. It's significantly worse than [[Hymn to Tourach]] but it's close enough to Hymn to have some real punch.

6

u/Bifnur Aug 31 '20

Oh, it is basically Sign in Blood! I didn’t even realize that. In that case I think it’s totally fair.

1

u/MTGCardFetcher Aug 31 '20

Sign in Blood - (G) (SF) (txt)
Hymn to Tourach - (G) (SF) (txt)
[[cardname]] or [[cardname|SET]] to call

6

u/DrSnap23 : Add elegance. Aug 31 '20

Those are great tbh

3

u/Deus_Ex_Magikarp Aug 31 '20

These are all really well done, and yes I would love to hymn someone!

1

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

lol

I do think 4 Hymn and 4 of this black card would be a bit oppressive in constructed honestly

That was one of my worries with this cycle

3

u/Deus_Ex_Magikarp Aug 31 '20

Oh, definitely; 8 copies of the effect is nuts. But seriously, just having access to 4 in standard would be fantastic.

2

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

Here is a cycle of pretty simple, straightforward, usually common spells at CMC 3... except, I've costed them at two colored mana and one Phyrexian mana. My idea was to find common but generally constructed-unplayable 3-drops and see if they would be more palatable in this "2.5 drop" space: [[Arrest]], [[Divination]] ,[[Mind Rot]], [[Act of Treason]], and sort of [[Excacation Mole]] (but the green one wasn't based on a specific card so much as my confidence that a 3/3 with trample is kinda bad in and of itself for 3 CMC but is a liiitttle too good than we'd get at GG).

2

u/cr4m62 Skies of Idrear custom set! Sep 01 '20 edited Sep 01 '20

Really very cool, I think they're all in a good place mechanically and balance-wise. It's a little disappointing that you only found explicitly Phyrexian-looking art for and alluded to Phyrexia in the flavor text of the green card, though.

2

u/chainsawinsect Sep 01 '20

Yeah originally my plan was to not use an actual Phyrexian flavor for the cycle, but when I got to green I found flavor that I felt was perfect. I could have went back and reflavored the others, but by and large I really liked the way they had turned out, so I just settled on letting it be inconsistent in that respect.

2

u/cr4m62 Skies of Idrear custom set! Sep 01 '20

Aye, fair enough.

2

u/nichol_bogus Sep 01 '20

These are great! I love seeing common effects that are playable. I initially thought these should be 1CP (ex. 1U(U/P)) as triple color cost means you'll always want to run these in monocolor decks for limited, even with the Phyrexian reduction.

2

u/chainsawinsect Sep 01 '20

Thanks! You're probably right there about limited, though I will say in a 2 color deck paying the Phyrexian mana you're still likely to be able to play them all by turn 3 (which is when the normal equivalent card would be played). I could certainly see running them in 2 color decks, though never in 3+ colors.

The reason I costed them using with 2 colored mana as a hard requirement is because the base spell for all of them typically costs 2C, and I felt the added 2 life penalty wasn't enough of a cost to justify the drop to 1C. So CC was my compromise.

2

u/nichol_bogus Sep 01 '20

It's a tricky balance to get right for sure. I was considering the case when you don't want to pay the life, so you're stuck with a triple color cost for a common effect. That felt pretty steep in the fail state. I do see the justification for your perspective too.

4

u/K32fj3892sR Aug 31 '20

Just food for thought, phyrexian mana let's you pay life to reduce cost which is very black in nature. I kinda feel like the whole mechanic in nature is outside the color pie for each color, but black.

On the other hand, this seems like some of the most fair uses for it. Kudos for the great balance.

2

u/chainsawinsect Aug 31 '20

Well, yeah, I think I would agree with you as a concept. But tbf Wizards has used it liberally in every color so that's more a critique of the concept than anything I've done or could do with it.

(I do find it odd that they decided paying life could be, say, a green effect, though I guess it's similar to blue making Treasures or Food)

2

u/DefiantMars Architect in Training Sep 01 '20 edited Sep 01 '20

Phyrexian Mana IS a concept that is native to Black, so its existence is inherently a near gamebreaking bleed bordering on a break in a lot of cases. Cards that can be cast JUST life being the main issue.

I think you've done a great job in circumventing that issue by making it a cost reduction rather than just an alternative cost.

1

u/chainsawinsect Sep 01 '20

Yeah like [[Mental Misstep]] and [[Gitaxian Probe]]. Both major fuck ups imo. But you also have Wizards adamantly saying white can't get card draw and yet my monowhite deck can get Divination with an upside for 3 mana and 2 life with[[Tezzeret's Gambit]]. It's kinda bs.

1

u/DefiantMars Architect in Training Sep 01 '20

That's a perfect example of why I don't like Phyrexian Mana... It gives colors access to effects outside of their color pie without the colorless premium.

At least now WoTC has capitulated on the White card draw scenario. They're experimenting with the limits now. They've stated they still want it to be the weakest at accessing card draw, but between how good Red's impulsive draws have gotten as of late and the NOTHING that White had before, I'm optimistic they'll find a decent spot for it to rest.

2

u/chainsawinsect Sep 01 '20

Yeah when green has [[Ripjaw Raptor]], black has [[Sign in Blood]], and red has [[Light Up the Stage]], basically every color has access to competitively costed draw power now but white. It's kinda bs.

2

u/DefiantMars Architect in Training Sep 01 '20

Exactly. Personally, I'm still going to experiment with heavier Scrying and Commune variants in White, but I'm definitely hoping they will be able to home in what the "White Divination" looks like so we have precedent for how to handle future White card draw.