MTGNexus

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 12/20/22 is Mephitic Vapors.

Surveil is now a deciduous mechanic!

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 12/21/22 is Prossh, Skyraider of Kher.

While this is one of the most infamous commanders out there, I do enjoy the Kobolds of Kher Keep tokens whenever they show up.

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 12/23/22 is Slinking Serpent.

Now, I have a soft spot for landwalk, but I recognize it was (mostly) gotten rid of for a reason. And what a bizarre little flavor justification for forestwalk on a sea creature.

So I like the idea of an UB creature hating on its common enemies, but maybe it being a sea serpent was not the way to go about it.

Slinking Terror 1UB
Creature — Horror Rogue
Slinking Terror can't be blocked by green creatures.
Whenever Slinking Terror deals combat damage to a player, they mill that many cards.
2/2

Something aesthetically about "go and mess up the common enemy color" is quite pleasing, but maybe the cycle that did it best was the Wanderbrine Rootcutters one. Shadowmoor even can conveniently explain the anti-green on a water-dwelling creature thing in various ways (the corrupted merrow really and truly hate dirtwalkers, and the merrow lanes have access to essentially all parts of the plane).

One new direction I'd like to take this is "can't be harmed by the common allied color".

Ooo. That's a real nice direction.

Daybreak Leafwatch 1{G/W}{G/W}
Creature — Elf Warrior Cleric
Vigilance
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Daybreak Leafwatch by black sources.
, Tap an untapped green or white creature you control: Daybreak Leafwatch gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2

If we're going to use "partial protection" abilities I really like the potential for that one, yeah! Here, though, is something I'd like to see:

Squelching Shaman 3BG
Creature - Fungus Shaman (U)
Flash
Protection from red
Whenever a source deals noncombat damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, you gain that much life.
3/3

void_nothing wrote: ↑

1 year ago

One new direction I'd like to take this is "can't be harmed by the common allied color".

I was just thinking about this the other day, mostly on how to justify it flavorfully.

My idea was the protection, in contrast to being derived from enmity towards the common enemy color, instead was derived from familiarity with common allied color, something like:

Orzhova Lawmage
{W}{B}
Creature - Vampire Warlock (U)
Protection from blue
2/2
None can exploit the fine print of contracts as creatively as the Orzhov.

Here, the protection is explained by the ability of the Orzhov to exploit loopholes and technicalities to literally protect themselves from Azorius law.

Yeah, I like that for sure! For the Ravnican guilds some of these make more sense than others... Orzhov advokists obviously are good at sparring versus Azorius ones, and Boros wojek officers are pretty used to arresting Gruul vandals... the Golgari do a lot of cleaning up after the chaos of Rakdos parties, maybe? Difficult to tell the Izzet-Dimir relationship or the Simic-Selesnya one in this schema.

Simic Infiltrator
{G}{U}
Creature - Shapeshifter
Protection from white
2/2
"People these days are too trusting of the familiar."


Golgari Sewersludge
{B}{G}
Creature - Ooze Horror
Protection from red
2/2
Can't be burnt, stabbed, broken or eaten.


Boros Chief Officer
{R}{W}
Creature - Minotaur Soldier
Protection from green
2/2
"I know how to deal with raging, stampeding, cloven-hooved beasts; I raised five sons!"


True that Izzet might deviate from the bunch:

Izzet Envoy
{U}{R}
Creature - Weird Scout
Protection from black
2/2
"I'd be happy to either kill it or interrogate it, if only I knew how!" -Drek, assassin for hire

Or:

Izzet Snoop
{U}{R}
Creature - Goblin Scout
Protection from black
2/2
Pretending to be stupid is a powerful weapon against the arrogant.

Or even:

Izzet Experimenter
{U}{R}
Creature - Human Wizard
Protection from black
2/2
The Izzet fear failure more than they fear injury or even death.

Sporegorger_Dragon wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Boros Chief Officer
{R}{W}
Creature - Minotaur Soldier
Protection from green
2/2
"I know how to deal with raging, stampeding, cloven-hooved beasts; I raised five sons!"

God I love this. This is so great. This is what Magic flavor texts are all about. The others are pretty good too - especially the conundrum that an ooze presents to the Rakdos Cult - but THIS one is gonna stick with me.

God I love these designed and honestly I miss these landwalks and protection cards. Yea they are brutal at times but mostly they are amazing balancing pieces to sets

Landwalk opened the door for type-changing and text-changing cards, such as Magical Hack and Sleight of Mind, which rarely see print anymore. I was told around 6th Ed that was due to memory issues; you'd think with Arena and other online resources for gameplay becoming more dominant these days, we'd see a return of mechanics such as these.

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 12/24/22 is Loxodon Gatekeeper.

Basically a Magus by any other name: This is Kismet's ability.

mmm it's hard to cost this ability on a creature: the creatures entering play tapped part puts you a turn ahead in any kind of swinging race but gatekeeper is behind the curve in terms of power and toughness, plus the ability wears off exactly when any player with a removal spell wants it to... I wonder if a modern version would look like:

Clipboard Mammoth ww
Creature - Elephant Advisor (R)
Artifacts and nonbasic lands you don't control enter the battlefield tapped.
Creatures your opponents control lose haste.
2/2

so you get to check any unfair fast mana or possible tap ability loops for a whole turn but you don't get to slow down their blockers. (it'd still be very punishing against three-colour Standard manabases or what have you, would probably be a very strong Legacy fish???? but I think these solution-y, soft-prison-y creatures are wonderful little speedbumps. I worry it'd be better than Thalia, maybe it'd need to be a three mana spell.)

(ps, this tap guy is fairly hard to balance but Marble Titan is impossible giggle)

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 1/2/23 is Grip of Phyresis.

Yes, that is a Sword of Body and Mind.

Nifty that it can grab Equipment that doesn't grant a P/T buff; though you lose the ability to use it immediately. It both a) offers you the benefit of using the gear and b) denies your opponent the opportunity, so it could be a decent trade. That being said, it still scales with the quality of your opponent's deck, and has a floor of doing absolute zilch. I don't think I've ever seen it run in a deck, even in a sideboard.

OneAndOnly wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Nifty that it can grab Equipment that doesn't grant a P/T buff; though you lose the ability to use it immediately. It both a) offers you the benefit of using the gear and b) denies your opponent the opportunity, so it could be a decent trade. That being said, it still scales with the quality of your opponent's deck, and has a floor of doing absolute zilch. I don't think I've ever seen it run in a deck, even in a sideboard.

You can also use it on equipment you already control to cheat on equip cost both in terms of activation time and possibly mana cost. Having Colossus Hammer on board and turning it into flashed 10/10 blocker is a nice option. And I am pretty sure that this card would be mainly used in this way, with stealing something from an opponent as a fallback plan.
If this card could only steal, then it would be the perfect example of a sideboard card though. For how specific the theft is, maybe it could steal from opponent's library, Acquire-like?

Lorn Asbord Schutta wrote: ↑

1 year ago

For how specific the theft is, maybe it could steal from opponent's library, Acquire-like?

That would be pretty cool. Bold idea: What if that design is in R?

This in on the list of commander cards I wish was legal in modern... Its presence would halt hammertime

The MTGNexus Custom Card Creation Random Card of the Day for 1/3/23 is Homarid Spawning Bed.

Spare a thought for the humble Camarid token.

I still get bitter about this card

Like a Camarid is a baby homarid.

So by this logic we can get Kitten Tokens or Puppy Tokens but we still haven't...

It does strike me that baby homarids are more dangerous than kittens or puppies... and that players would have fewer qualms Pyroclasming them.

Young me imagined I would play a Deep Spawn, swing for the stars, and then be able to spawn the Kraken into elebenty cute little Camarids before its drawback kicked in.

It never happened. Didn't happen with Leviathan, Marjhan or Polar Kraken, either.

Gawd those early big blue cards were awful....

Ulka wrote: ↑

1 year ago

I still get bitter about this card

Like a Camarid is a baby homarid.

So by this logic we can get Kitten Tokens or Puppy Tokens but we still haven't...

To be fair that logic was from 1994, and 1994 has a lot of logic that turned out best avoided, like burn in blue. They were still figuring out how any of the game should even work. Baby cats just being Cats is good for cat tribal.