#MTGMoxtober Day 24: Puppet

 

Card of the Day - Saltsea Shore

There have been a lot of drawbacks attached to the rare dual land cycle of each set.  This drawback gets more harsh depending on where you play it.

In a casual setting, a lot of folks won't even remember what you've shown, but if you're playing a big tournament, you can be sure that your opponent will get out her notebook to jot down exactly what you have.

Card of the Day - Eldritch Horror

This guy's first iteration was kind of boring. He had a snowfall trigger to exile a graveyard.  Also he was a 5/4.  I wanted to make him unique, so I gave him the ability "Eldritch horror can block any creature". 

I asked Reddit about a better wording and this is what they came up with.  His new P/T feels better in this color combination with his new ability. 

Card of the Day - Dimir Spellbomb

Reworking my Magic - Hypnotic Stare

On November 28th, I posted this card.  Today, I'm going to rework it so it feels better in Gatecrash.  When I created Hypnotic Stare, no one know about Cipher.  Now we do.

Presenting the new and improved Hypnotic Stare:

Let me know if you're interested in seeing more of this type of thing.  I won't be doing these a lot, but sometimes an old design can be improved with a new mechanic.

Card of the Day - Memory Wipe/Sense Motive

I wanted to make a card where you get to choose whether forcing a discard or milling would be the better play.  I came up with a skeleton for a card, but I couldn't quite get the wording right.  I tried a few more variations and got this:

Instead of choosing which effect to do, it does both.  Sprinkle in some panache (the bit about mana cost), and you got yourself a nice Dimir card.


Bonus!  After going back to the original idea, I finally made the wording fit.  Here's that card.

Card of the Day - Memory Theft

Return to Ravnica has piqued my interest for X spells that do two different things.  Interestingly enough, this card was in my file a bit differently originally.

(I like the Dimir version better.)

Bonus! Card of the Day - Aerial Stalker

I love making these Espionage cards!  Here's another bonus for y'all. 

Card of the Day - Watchful Serpent

I love making a huge blue common creature.  Most big sets have one. It's almost always a serpent, and it's almost always overlooked. Here's one more to put in the pile.

Card of the Day - Undercity Scoundrel

With Espionage as the Dimir mechanic, mill is a viable draft strategy.  This guy is a good enabler for a lot of mill strategies.  If he has to block, it could be ruinous to your opponent.

Card of the Day - Baleful Specter

A new take on a Specter.  I like how he makes the damaged player draw a card as well as milling three.

Edit:  Here's an updated version.  His dealing damage ability is useless with the new iteration of Espionage, so I changed it.

Card of the Day - Rogue's Treachery

Does this seem forced?  Black has very limited direct damage. I wanted to make a spell with Espionage instead of only creatures, and this was the first design that came to mind.  I looked at it for a few minutes trying to make it more black, and came up with the perfect solution.
 

Once I added the lifegain element, the card felt infinitely more black.  It costs two more mana to cast but it resonates with one of the iconic black mechanics, life drain.

Edit:  Here's Rogue's Treachery with the new Espionage wording:

 I changed it to an instant since it doesn't deal actual damage to players anymore.

Card of the Day - Dimir Spy

This week is House Dimir.  As you may know, the Dimir are very secretive.  They even convinced the general populace of Ravnica that they didn't even exist.  Their keyword, Espionage, reflects their secretive nature while complimenting what they are really good at: milling!

Edit:  Thanks to Wobbles for coming up with a better implementation of Espionage. Here's the new and improved Dimir Spy.

I lowered his mana cost because he deals 1 less damage and mills 1 less card than before.  I really like how Espionage mirrors Infect.

Card of the Day - Remove Reality

I like this one.  It just feels sneaky and mean.  Just like blue and black ought to be.