Illusionist spells

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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 3 years ago

Distorting
Instant (U)
Counter target spell.
(name of mechanic) discard two card (Create a 0/1 blue Illusion token with Ethreal and "When this creature dies, discard two cards".)

Reaping
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature.
(name of mechanic) you lose 5 life (Create a 0/1 blue Illusion token with Ethreal and "When this creature dies, you lose 5 life".)

The names are generic (though I am surprised that they were not used before) and I do not have any good name for the mechanic. "Ethreal" is keyworded "When this creature becomes target of spell or ability, sacrife it".
The intention here is to make some aggresively costed instant/sorcery, while giving a delayed risk. Additionaly there could be some creature and entering/death trigger synergies, or using this ability as a benefit, not detriment, something like this:

Telemetric Blessing
Instant (U)
Draw a card.
(NoM) you gain 2 life (Create a 0/1 blue Illusion token with Ethreal and "When this creature dies, you gain 2 life".)

Any thoughts about balance? Elegance? Ideas for a name?

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Mookie
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Post by Mookie » 3 years ago

Hmmm... in terms of balance, I think this mechanic looks totally reasonable - aggressively costed cards with some hefty downsides. It is possible that these cards would cause problems in eternal / removal-light formats (if your opponent doesn't have creature removal, then these are all upside), but that's relatively minor. I would be cautious with any more proactive cards though - cutting a mana off Pyretic Ritual doesn't matter if your opponent never gets another turn, for example.

One thing I would call out are memory issues - if you're using the same token for every card but different effects, it would be very difficult to track which token has which death trigger.
One solution I'd suggest is to have a single trigger for all cards. You would need to make sure that the downside is significant enough though, and appropriate for all colors. I'd suggest something like 'each opponent draws a card' or 'you discard a card', but there are a lot of options.
Another possible solution is to do something similar to what is used for Cipher cards like Call of the Nightwing - exile the card on resolution, and use it as a marker attached to the token to know what the effect is.

Another thing I'll call out is to make sure that the mechanic reads well - people tend to be risk-averse, and not like downside mechanics like Echo and Fading, even if they allow for above-the-curve cards. I do like the idea of cards that have a delayed downside though.

As for names... 'Ethereal'? 'Phantasmal'? 'Aetherbound'? 'Fine Print'? Really depends on what flavor you're going for.

Pygyzy
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Post by Pygyzy » 3 years ago

I love these types of mechanics. It's like cipher and haunt had a baby. Why not something like.

Inscribe (Then you may exile this spell card. Create a 0/1 colorless Reflection creature token inscribed with this spell. Whenever that creature dies, decipher the inscription.)

That way you can write, "when this card is deciphered, X"

Sword of Damocles W
Sorcery
Destroy target creature an opponent controls of their choice, then inscribe. (Reminder text)
Inscription — When you decipher this inscription, an opponent destroys target creature you control of your choice.

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