Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Black Deck – The Rummaging Gang



Black is about reanimation!  I would like to make my own reanimation enchantment, have a glaring omission (Reoccurring Nightmare will be in the first update), and feel the need to cut counter spells, yet feel this deck is closer to ready than the first two.

General (1):
The Rummaging Gang

Creature (12):
Ashen Rider
Body Double
Dark Confidant
Eye of Insanity
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Griselbrand
Magus of the Orb
Resurrection Guide
Snapcaster Mage
Sun Titan
Tarmogoyf
Young Pyromancer

Enchantment (5):
Animate Dead
Dance of the Dead
Frozen in Time
Necromancy
Sylvan Library

Instant (15):
Ancestral Recall
Black Elemental Blast
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Dismember
Force of All
Force of Will
Internal Struggle
Lightning Bolt
Misdirection
Off to Paradise
Pact of Negation
Perpend
Skeletal Scrying
Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery (19):
Balance
Contract from Below
Cruel Ultimatum
Damnation
Darkpact
Duress
Psychic Shredder
Regrowth
Thoughtseize
Ponder
Portent
Preordain
Think About It
Time Walk
Timetwister
Toxic Deluge
Vindicate
Wheel of Fortune
Yawgmoth’s Will

Planeswalker (4):
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
The Heart of Bolas
Xarin, Dread Bringer

Artifact (14):
Black Lotus
Chaos Orb
Jeweled Bird
Lightning Greaves
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Nihil Spellbomb
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sol Ring
Torpor Orb
Umezawa’s Jitte

Land (30):
Ancient Tomb
Badlands
Bayou
Blood Crypt
Cascading Chasm
Cavern of Souls
City of Brass
City of Greed
Command Tower
Godless Shrine
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Mana Confluence
Maze of Ith
Mishra’s Sweatshop
Overgrown Tomb
Plateau
Reflecting Pool
Savannah
Scrubland
Strip Mine
Taiga
Tolarian Academy
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Volcanic Island
Wasteland
Watery Grave

Card Spoiler:

The Rummaging Gang
BR/GW/U
Legendary Creature – Gremlin
Commanding — When The Rummaging Gang enters the battlefield, choose one for each time it has been cast from the command zone — Another target creature gets -2/-2; or target opponent discards a card at random; or return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand; or transform The Rummaging Gang.
Unanteable (If The Rummaging Gang would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
2/3
The Restful Fellows (The Rummaging Gang’s Transformation)
Legendary Creature – Gremlin Treefolk
(The Restful Fellows is white, black and green.)
Banding (Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you divide that creature’s combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it’s being blocked by or is blocking.)
Unanteable (If The Restful Fellows would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
3/6

Eye of Insanity
1BR
Creature – Eye
Haste
Annihilator 1
At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice Eye of Insanity.
0/1

Magus of the Orb
Artifact Creature – Human Wizard
Creatures entering the battlefield don’t cause abilities to trigger.
2/1

Resurrection Guide
1WW
Creature – Human Spirit
Flying
When Resurrection Guide enters the battlefield from a graveyard, return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Unearth 1BB
1/2

Frozen in Time
2U
Enchantment
When Frozen in Time enters the battlefield, target creature phases out.
Cards phased out by Frozen in Time can’t phase in.

Black Elemental Blast
B
Instant
Choose one — Counter target white spell; or destroy target white permanent.

Force of All
1W/UB/UR/UG/U
Ante Instant
You may exile a noncolorless card from your hand rather than pay Force of All’s mana cost.
Counter target spell, then ante the top card of your library.

Internal Struggle
UUBB
Instant
Counter target spell. If a spell is countered this way, its controller discards two cards at random.

Off to Paradise
W
Instant
Exile target creature, then ante the top card of your library.

Perpend
R
Instant
Draw three cards, then discard two cards.

Darkpact (Updated)
Ante Sorcery
Choose target card in the ante and reveal the top card of your library. If the target is still legal and a card was revealed as this spell resolves, exchange ownership of the cards, then simultaneously put the target card on the top of your library and put the revealed card into the ante.

Psychic Shredder
B
Ante Sorcery
Target player reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player antes that card, then ante the top card of your library.

Think About It
U
Ante Sorcery
Scry 4, draw a card, then ante the top card of your library.

The Heart of Bolas
0
Artifact Planeswalker – Bolas
+1: Add 1 to your mana pool.
-7: Put a blue, black and red Bolas planeswalker token named Bolas Reborn onto the battlefield with 7 loyalty and “+1: Target opponent discards his or her hand; -3: Draw three cards; -12: You win the game.”
1

Xarin, Dread Bringer
1BG
Planeswalker – Xarin
+1: Exile target card from a graveyard.
-3: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
-6: Until end of turn, you may play cards exiled by Xarin, Dread Bringer.
3

Cascading Chasm
Land
When Cascading Chasm enters the battlefield, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a land card. You may put that card onto the battlefield. Put the exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.

City of Greed
Ante Land
Whenever City of Greed becomes tapped, ante the top card of your library.
T: Add 3 to your mana pool.

Mishra’s Sweatshop
T, pay 2 life: Add 3 to your mana pool. If that mana is spent on a spell, it gains vanishing 2. Spend this mana only to cast artifact, creature or enchantment spells.

Monday, July 21, 2014

The Blue Deck – Hermie, Homarid Dreamer



Blue is all about the control.  I would like to put another planeswalker in and wouldn’t mind more counterspells, but we will see where playtesting leads.

General (1):
Hermie, Homarid Dreamer

Creature (11):
Academy Elite
Consecrated Sphinx
Dark Confidant
Magus of the Mine
Phantasmal Image
Sage of Hypnotism
Seductive Kidnapper
Snapcaster Mage
Tarmogoyf
Vendilion Clique
Young Pyromancer

Enchantment (3):
Frozen in Time
Leyline of Anticipation
Sylvan Library

Instant (20):
Ancestral Recall
Blue Elemental Blast
Brainstorm
Commandeer
Cruel Counter
Dismember
Dromar’s Charm
Fact or Fiction
Force of All
Force of Will
Lightning Bolt
Mana Drain
Misdirection
No
Off to Paradise
Pact of Negation
Perpend
Ripped from the Page
Skeletal Scrying
Sword to Plowshares

Sorcery (18):
Balance
Contract from Below
Duress
Ponder
Portent
Preordain
Psychic Shredder
Regrowth
Supreme Verdict
Think About It
Thoughtseize
Time Walk
Timetwister
Toxic Deluge
Vindicate
Waterfall
Wheel of Fortune
Yawgmoth’s Will

Planeswalker (3):
Dack Fayden
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
The Heart of Bolas

Artifact (14):
Black Lotus
Chaos Orb
Jeweled Bird
Howling Mine
Lightning Greaves
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Nihil Spellbomb
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sol Ring
Sword of Feast and Famine

Land (30):
Ancient Tomb
Badlands
Bayou
Breeding Pool
Cascading Chasm
Cavern of Souls
City of Brass
City of Greed
Command Tower
Flooded Sea
Hallowed Fountain
Horizon Canopy
Karakas
Library of Alexandria
Mana Confluence
Maze of Ith
Plateau
Reflecting Pool
Savannah
Scrubland
Steam Vents
Strip Mine
Taiga
Tolarian Academy
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Volcanic Island
Wasteland
Watery Grave

Card Spoiler:

Hermie, Homarid Dreamer
UB/RG/W
Legendary Creature – Homarid
Commanding — When Hermie, Homarid Dreamer enters the battlefield, choose one for each time it has been cast from the command zone — Return another target nonland permanent to its owners hand; or gain control of target nonland permanent with converted mana cost 2 or less; or scry 1, then draw a card; or transform Hermie, Homarid Dreamer.
Unanteable (If Hermie, Homarid Dreamer would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
2/3
Hermie, Dreams Revealed (Hermie, Homarid Dreamer’s Transformation)
Legendary Creature – Elemental Homarid
(Hermie, Dreams Revealed is blue, red and green)
Trample
Unanteable (If Hermie, Dreams Revealed would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
5/3

Magus of the Mine
2
Artifact Creature – Human Wizard
At the beginning of each player’s draw step, if Magus of the Mine is untapped, that player draws an additional card.
2/1

Sage of Hypnotism
2B
Creature – Human Wizard
1U, T: Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature you control, then gain control of target creature.
1/2

Seductive Kidnapper
UUU
Ante Creature - Merfolk Pirate
When Seductive Kidnapper enters the battlefield, choose target nontoken creature and reveal the top card of your library. If the target is still legal and a card was revealed as this ability resolves, you own target creature and its former owner owns the revealed card. Return target creature to its owner’s hand and put the revealed card into its owner’s graveyard.
2/2

Frozen in Time
2U
Enchantment
When Frozen in Time enters the battlefield, target creature phases out.
Cards phased out by Frozen in Time can’t phase in.

Cruel Counter
B
Instant
As an additional cost to cast Cruel Counter, pay half you life rounded down.
Counter target spell.

Force of All
1W/UB/UR/UG/U
Ante Instant
You may exile a noncolorless card from your hand rather than pay Force of All’s mana cost.
Counter target spell, then ante the top card of your library.
No
UU
Instant
Split Second
Counter target spell.

Off to Paradise
W
Instant
Exile target creature, then ante the top card of your library.

Ripped from the Page
2UUU
Ante Instant
You own target noncopy spell and its former owner owns Ripped from the Page. Counter the targeted spell.

Psychic Shredder
B
Ante Sorcery
Target player reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player antes that card, then ante the top card of your library.

Think About It
U
Ante Sorcery
Scry 4, draw a card, then ante the top card of your library.

Waterfall
UUU
Sorcery
Flip Waterfall onto the playing area from a height of at least one foot. If Waterfall turns over completely at least once during the flip, all permanents it touches are Islands. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)

The Heart of Bolas
0
Artifact Planeswalker – Bolas
+1: Add 1 to your mana pool.
-7: Put a blue, black and red Bolas planeswalker token named Bolas Reborn onto the battlefield with 7 loyalty and “+1: Target opponent discards his or her hand; -3: Draw three cards; -12: You win the game.”
1

Cascading Chasm
Land
When Cascading Chasm enters the battlefield, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a land card. You may put that card onto the battlefield. Put the exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.

City of Greed
Ante Land
Whenever City of Greed becomes tapped, ante the top card of your library.
T: Add 3 to your mana pool.

Flooded Sea
Legendary Land
Each land is an Island in addition to its other land types.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The White Deck – Gwendal, the Bicorn



It has proven to be difficult identifying the themes of this deck and thus the design will have to evolve.  The deck should win with proactive spells/global effects that greatly hinder ones opponent.  It is very much in test form, as it needs more of a win condition.  I foresee adding token producers with the first update.  I also expect to edit the general as well.

General (1):
Gwendal, the Bicorn

Creature (9):
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Baneslayer Angel
Dark Confidant
Mother of Runes
Magus of the Bridge
Nayru, the Risk-Taker
Snapcaster Mage
Tarmogoyf
Young Pyromancer

Enchantment (5):
Frozen in Time
Leyline of Sanctity
Moat
Sylvan Library
Wall of Enchantment

Instant (17):
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Dismember
Esper Charm
Force of All
Force of Will
Heavenly Ritual
Lightning Bolt
Misdirection
Off to Paradise
Perpend
Runic Repercussions
Skeletal Scrying
Stuck
Swords to Plowshares
Where Are Your Gods Now?
White Elemental Blast

Sorcery (20):
Balance
Contract from Below
Door to the Past
Duress
Once More with Feeling
Council’s Judgment
Ponder
Portent
Preordain
Psychic Shredder
Regrowth
Think About It
Thoughtseize
Time Walk
Timetwister
Toxic Deluge
Vindicate
Wheel of Fortune
Wrath of God
Yawgmoth’s Will

Planeswalker (4):
Ajani Vengeant
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Karn Liberated
The Heart of Bolas

Artifact (14):
Black Lotus
Chaos Orb
Ensnaring Bridge
Jeweled Bird
Lightning Greaves
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Nihil Spellbomb
Sensei’s Divining Top
Sol Ring
Sword of Fire and Ice

Land (30):
Ancient Tomb
Badlands
Bayou
Cascading Chasm
Cavern of Souls
City of Brass
City of Greed
Command Tower
Godless Shrine
Hallowed Fountain
Karakas
Kor Haven
Library of Alexandria
Mana Confluence
Maze of Ith
Plateau
Reflecting Pool
Sacred Foundry
Savannah
Scrubland
Strip Mine
Taiga
Temple Garden
Tolarian Academy
Tropical Island
Tundra
Underground Sea
Volcanic Island
Wasteland
Weedy Steppe

Card Spoiler:

Gwendal, the Bicorn
WU/BR/G
Legendary Creature – Unicorn
Commanding — When Gwendal, the Bicorn enters the battlefield, choose one for each time it has been cast from the command zone — Exile another target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step; or you may return target permanent card with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield; or gain 5 life; or transform Gwendal, the Bicorn.
Unanteable (If Gwendal, the Bicorn would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
2/3
Gwendal, Wrath’s Taken (Gwendal, the Bicorn’s Transformation)
Legendary Creature – Unicorn Demon
(Gwendal, Wrath’s Taken is white, black and red)
Haste
Unanteable (If Gwendal, Wrath’s Taken would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library.)
6/2

Magus of the Bridge
3
Artifact Creature – Human Wizard
Creatures with power greater than the number of cards in your hand can’t attack.
2/2

Nayru, the Risk-Taker
WWW
Legendary Ante Creature – Avatar
When Nayru, the Risk-Take enters the battlefield, each player antes the top card of his or her library.
Nayru, the Risk-Taker’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in the ante.
*/*

Frozen in Time
2U
Enchantment
When Frozen in Time enters the battlefield, target creature phases out.
Cards phased out by Frozen in Time can’t phase in.

Wall of Enchantment
Tribal Enchantment – Wall
Wall of Enchantment can block as though it is a creature. (As long as Wall of Enchantment isn’t a creature, damage can’t be assigned to it.)

Force of All
1W/UG/UU/BU/R
Ante Instant
You may exile a noncolorless card from your hand rather than pay Force of All’s mana cost.
Counter target spell, then ante the top card of your library.

Heavenly Ritual
W
Instant
Add WWW to your mana pool.

Off to Paradise
W
Ante Instant
Exile target creature, then ante the top card of your library.

Perpend
R
Instant
Draw three cards, then discard two cards.

Runic Repercussions
WUU
Instant
Choose one or both — Counter target spell; and/or exile target creature.

Stuck
W
Instant
Permanents you control can’t leave the battlefield this turn.

Where Are Your Gods Now?
2W
Instant
Remove target player from the game. Return the removed player to the game at the beginning of the next end step. (A player removed from the game can’t take any actions, be targeted, be affected, be attacked, gain or lose life, or win or lose the game.)

White Elemental Blast
W
Instant
Choose one — Counter target black spell; or destroy target black permanent.

Door to the Past
WUBRG
Sorcery
Each player may exile a creature he or she controls, then restart the game, leaving in exile all cards exiled this way. Then put those cards onto the battlefield under their owner’s control.

Once More with Feeling (Updated from Unglued)
WWWW
Sorcery
Exile all nontoken permanents and all cards from all graveyards. Each player shuffles his or her hand into her or his library, then draws seven cards. Each player’s life total becomes 10. Exile Once More with Feeling.

Psychic Shredder
B
Ante Sorcery
Target player reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player antes that card, then ante the top card of your library.

Think About It
U
Ante Sorcery
Scry 4, draw a card, then ante the top card of your library.

The Heart of Bolas
0
Artifact Planeswalker – Bolas
+1: Add 1 to your mana pool.
-7: Put a blue, black and red Bolas planeswalker token named Bolas Reborn onto the battlefield with 7 loyalty and “+1: Target opponent discards his or her hand; -3: Draw three cards; -12: You win the game.”
1

Cascading Chasm
Land
When Cascading Chasm enters the battlefield, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a land card. You may put that card onto the battlefield. Put the exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.

City of Greed
Ante Land
Whenever City of Greed becomes tapped, ante the top card of your library.
T: Add 3 to your mana pool.

Weedy Steppe
Legendary Land
Each land is a Plains in addition to its other land types.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

A Couple Unfinished Ideas

In the last couple of days I have come up with some cards that are too interesting for me not to share right away.  They are unfinished, yet I feel I need some feedback to make sure they have the right feel and will be fun.  The flavor should speak for the cards, so I won't explain them anymore.



Thursday, July 17, 2014

Decklists Next Week and the Darkpact Cycle

Just want to give people a heads up that next week I will be posting the first edition of the playtest decklists starting Monday with white and ending Friday with green.  With that, I will post all cards I have either created or updated.  I would very much like feedback and please don't be shy to call a turd a turd.

Darkpact Cycle

Calling this cycle the Darkpact Cycle is the lazy way of saying there are all super powerful Ante cards that cost three of one color.  Like any cycle, clearly some are better than others, but I am very happy with how they turned out.  I am very interested to see how they play and how fun or un-fun they are.






Bonus!  Ripped from the Page is not part of the cycle, but does cost three of its color and is a scary Ante card.


Monday, June 30, 2014

All the Generals

I finally finished finding art for the Ante Commander generals.  They still need alot of tweaking, so please be harsh.

For your reference, Unanteable's reminder text is "If CARDNAME would be put into the ante or you would lose ownership, instead put it into your graveyard, then ante the top card of you library."






The Generals

The hardest part of designing Ante Commander has been the generals.  They have to be five color, but cheap enough to matter and distinct to their deck.  I came up with this formula:


The things to note:
1. Each general cost a hybrid of the five colors with one color being required.  They will lead the deck that favors that color.  Hermie will lead the blue favoring counter spell deck.
2. Each will have choices for enter the battlefield abilities.  This is the hardest part to balance and I forsee the most editing happening there.
3. Each will transform into a bigger creature.  Note that each will then lose its two ally colors.  It will also be set in the rules that both sides of you commander count towards commander damage.
4. Lastly, each commander will be un-ante-able.  This is important as you need you general to play commander.  I may turn the ability into a keyword.

Another thing to note, I have tried to use under utilized creature types, but finding art has been difficult.  Please post thoughts on any and all of this.  It has not been easy designing the commander, but it has be very rewarding.  I will post the rest of the commanders soon.

Update:  I think I will make the ability a keyword, though I may not keep the reminder text for print.

Update 2: Should only be able to steal nonland permanents.