MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/16/20 is Witch Hunt.

Are your EDH games taking too long? Well...

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Right, I have to confess to never have played against "can't gain life" effects. In theory it is a hoser on a life gain, which is on the other hand usually a hoser for burn...
How do they play in reality? How often opponents prioritise them with removal? And how they should be costed? Because this seems like a trinket text, but in recent times there were more instances of it, so maybe there is a need for such an effect?

About the card itself, the name sounds as if it was from Innistrad, but I am not sure from the art. The last ability looks fun and it highlights some design directions that cannot be explored for classic 1v1. Also, frequent passing around would quick the games even among many players still at table, so if that is its usage, then they nailed it.

[void_nothing]

I put lifegain hosers into two categories. One as something of the counterhosing you mentioned for burn decks but more of a "you can't hide" clause for damage over time like Sulfuric Vortex, and the other as out and out making it painful to play - primarily - lifelink beaters, like Rain of Gore.

I'm not sure what category Stigma Lasher fits in - I think it's just kind of an efficient hatebear that happens to have lifegain be the thing it hoses.

It all depends on the format, but I think it's a good effect for red to have.

[Ginuqu]

(I've loved those "can't gain life" effects ever since I used Forsaken Wastes to combat another player's green deck that'd repeatedly cast Blossoming Wreath after making a full graveyard via Hermit Druid and things. It was only a partial answer cos Forsaken Wastes doesn't do much when you're being attacked by a pair of Gurzigosts every turn.)

Although I know the ability from Forsaken Wastes I do think it suits red better, being one of the least lifelink-y colours. I'm suspicious when the phrase appears on an already good card, eg. Rampaging Ferocidon, because you might, as an accidental bonus, completely turn off another player's deck, especially now that Vito and Heliod are out there trying to amplify lifegain into something that works in casual and competitive. I'd rather hosers were cheap and specific!

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/17/20 is Yawgmoth's Agenda.

YAWGMOTH'S DAYPLANNER! Can this one just be the catalyst for me spouting Yawg trivia?

[SecretInfiltrator]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/17/20 is Yawgmoth's Agenda.

That's the card that made me think Yawgmoth may have been a MechSpider (but it's just Tsabo Tavoc IIRC).

Death Grasp´& Soul Link made me wonder whether Yawgmoth is that white-haired guy who looks a lot like Urza (but that is unsurprisingly Urza in a turn of story events not adequately explained in the cards I owned at the time).

[void_nothing]

- Yawgmoth is represented probably most often as a building in artwork - he takes the idea of being one with Phyrexia a bit literally.

- Yawgmoth's French name is Yaugzebul. This is unique among translations of (iirc) any major Magic character's names in that it's not just a phonetic rendering of the original English name, it's changed in pronunciation. I'm not actually sure why this is the case but I can tell you it's based on the French spelling of the real-life Judeo-Christian demon Beelzebub. Weirdly enough French does this with another Magic lore name, the Thrull creature type, rendering it as "srâne". (Must be the "Th"s are hard to pronounce.)

- Some of Yawgmoth's first victims were cat warriors, elves, dwarves, and Talruum minotaurs. This would come back to bite him when the likes of Windgrace, Eladamri, the stone druids, and Tahngarth were instrumental to his demise.

- Not only is Yawgmoth wearing fabulous guyliner in his Yawgmoth, Thran Physician art, his flowing black locks are described as sometimes masking his face. He really is an emo kid after all.

[spacemonaut]

Yawgmoth's Diary
Yawgmoth's Post-It Notes
Yawgmoth's Bullet Journal
Yawgmoth's Colander
Yawgmoth's Memo
Yawgmoth's Press Release



Yawgmoth's Thesis 2BB
Enchantment — Saga
I, II — Each player sacrifices two creatures. For each creature they sacrifice, they create a 3/3 black Horror creature token.
III — Each player draws X cards and loses X life, where X is the number of Horrors they control.
IV — Destroy all non-Horror creatures.

(Feels like it could be more evocative, but anyway.)

- Some of Yawgmoth's first victims were cat warriors, elves, dwarves, and Talruum minotaurs. This would come back to bite him when the likes of Windgrace, Eladamri, the stone druids, and Tahngarth were instrumental to his demise.

Hell yeah. An extremely common Western narrative convention suggests that crucial to the satisfying narrative defeat of a villain is that the circumstances of the moment of their defeat must come as a direct result of their own vices or failures that defined their villainy to begin with, and their failure to learn and change for the better.

Admiral Zhao's pride leads him to create the very enemy that would defeat him, to drive away his own allies, and to refuse the help that would save him (Avatar); Black Mask's misogyny leads him to dismiss the power and agency of his enemies and to set up the circumstances of his own defeat (Birds of Prey); Ronan the Accuser refuses to acknowledge the value of togetherness or the agency of anyone beyond himself (Guardians of the Galaxy); Tai Lung repeatedly refuses to learn that he doesn't have to be the best at the expense of everyone else (Kung Fu Panda); Darth Sidious fails to learn the value of love and compassion (Star Wars Episode VI); etc.

Villains creating the very same opposition that would later defeat them as a direct result of their own villainy is a classic. (The exact circumstances of their defeat must still meet the above criteria, but this is a great start.)

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/23/20 is Omnibian.

I'm pretty sure this would be an uncommon for sure today.

Also, another language quirk: Every language this card is translated into just renders the same play on words as "Omnibian" using its own spelling of "Amphibian" for the ending, except for German, which calls the card "Verfroscher" - basically meaning "Frogifier". Points for accuracy to the mechanical part of the card!

[spacemonaut]

Hey, I recognise this card!

Oko's Emissary 1GU
Creature — Elk (R)
Haste
: Put a +1/+1 counter on Oko's Emissary. Target creature loses all abilities and becomes an Elk creature with base power and toughness 3/3. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)
3/3

This is fair, right?

But for realsy:

Oko's Emissary 1GU
Creature — Elk (U)
Trample
Whenever Oko's Emissary attacks, up to one other target attacking creature becomes a copy of it until end of turn.
3/3

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/25/20 is Urza's Armor.

That Tawnos reference in the flavor text is an amazing little grace note, and - hey, look, absorb before absorb!

Also, you can keep your young blond Academy Urza and your cunning old Invasion Urza. Trip to Phyrexia Urza is best Urza, the clean shaven aging cowboy with silver hair that probably would have gotten to ass length if they hadn't made him clean himself up in Serra's Realm.

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/28/20 is Fall of the Hammer.

Probably one of the better cards of its class to be printed at common imo. Feel free to discuss fight vs. whatever you prefer to call one-sided fight.

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 9/29/20 is Descent of the Dragons.

In a strange place in the color pie. Polymorphing is a blue effect, yet I don't think anybody is prepared to argue this card somehow shouldn't be red.

[user_938036]

Also, polymorphing is a red effect, so I'm not certain what the strange place is.

[void_nothing]

Mark recently said: "If you're turning a creature into another creature and you don't know what you're going to get, that's now red. If you know what you're turning the creature into, that's blue." This is much more of a mass Pongify than a mass Chaos Warp.

[user_938036]

True, I ignored the effect of the actual card being discussed and focused on polymorph.

[spacemonaut]

It was a great opportunity to make an update to Day of the Dragons and fix the part where it's actually bad for a dragon deck because it kills off even the dragons it didn't make for you.

Also reminds me of Harmonious Archon, which was a design I really liked.

[SecretInfiltrator]

I would have to check the exact time frame, but I suppose this approximately fits into the time where they are testing different things to figure out what goes where. The quote about what's "now red" is quite recent and refers to the end result of this exploration. I'd expect this effect to be considered non-red "now".

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 10/1/20 is Ghost Quarter.

It's spooky season! Our little slice of Agyrem is probably one of the better designed modern Wastelands imo.

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 10/2/20 is Kederekt Parasite.

All aboard the Underworld Dreams train!

[spacemonaut]

Archive Infestation 1RR
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent draws a card other than the first card on each of their turns, create a 2/2 red Gremlin creature token.
2R, Sacrifice a creature: Archive Infestation deals damage equal to that creature's power to any target.

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 10/10/20 is Nekrataal.

This card is really well-designed and it's a classic for a reason. You know what that means: Trivia!

- The now-outdated term for ETB effects, 187, comes from this card specifically. 187 was a reference to specifically Nekrataal's triggered ability at first, which destroys a creature; 187 was picked up from 90s gangsta rap and is the California penal code for a murder.

- Nekrataalat are technically not humans in-storyline. They're meant to be one of the six Rabian djinni tribes alongside true Djinni, Efreeti, Djanni, Marids, and Ghouls. You can rationalize the typeline in a number of ways: This is a djinn in fully-human form just as Khabál Ghoul is a djinn in fully-undead form, this is just a Jamuraan cultist impersonating a legitimate nekrataal, or the chroniclers of the Mirage Wars simply forgot that they were djinni.

[spacemonaut]

- The now-outdated term for ETB effects, 187, comes from this card specifically. 187 was a reference to specifically Nekrataal's triggered ability at first, which destroys a creature; 187 was picked up from 90s gangsta rap and is the California penal code for a murder.

TIL! I remember this coming up a couple of years ago, and people were saying it was because of the collector number, but then it turned out this card's never had collector number 187, so they realised that didn't make much sense and got back to wondering why it was that number. (It was collector number #66 in Visions, #149 in 8e and 9e, and #163 in 10e.)

[void_nothing]

That is a persistent myth, actually, and as you pointed out doesn't make sense for any of the card's printings. Imagine how big a set would have to be if a middle-of-the-alphabet black card were to be collector number 187!

[void_nothing]

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 10/11/20 is Grassland Crusader.

I feel like this card could have been pretty fun, at 3W. Crossing color lines in Onslaught's kinda rigid tribal was interesting, but six mana for that? Okay, technically it blocks as a 4/6, and it'd probably need an "another" if it cost four mana, but...