Card of the Day - Exchange Favors

So Hollee said to me tonight, "Are there any bargain cards? Like a card that can let you trade a card in your hand with a card in an opponent's hand?" 

I thought for a minute and couldn't think of one, so I made it.

I had to rejigger the wording to make it mutual exile instead of just trading cards in hands, but if it makes you feel better, you can put that card in your hand if you like.  I give you my permission.

Card of the Day - Unwieldy Surprise/Battlefield Forge

This card is exactly what my wife guessed as "Battlefield Forge" during our podcast. (The name was from a random word generator.) I think it needs some work...  Let's try this instead:

Hollee makes Magic #1

My wife and I have a podcast which you can find here.  In this week's episode, we have a new segment where I open a pack of Magic cards, and she guesses what the cards do.

Here are three of my favorites, edited for new names and templating (and some slight modifications).

Card number one:  Catacomb Slug

Her guess:

Card number two:  Maritime Guard

Her guess:

Card number three:  Cleric of the Forward Order

Her guess:

I hope you enjoy these.  Listen to the podcast if you're inclined.  There is a fair bit of Magic stuff in there mixed in with random nerdery.

Card of the Day - Piggy, Wearer of Rainboots

Every once in a while, I regret asking my wife to help me make a card.  This time it had to be a baby pig wearing rainboots.  I've done my best.

Playtesting Frostmere -- Day 1, Part 2

For part 1, click here.

Thanks for coming back!  The second deck that I made was a Red/Black ice deck.  It manipulates ice counters to do mean things.  Here's a rundown on some of the more important cards in the deck -

Below Zero was busted in its original incarnation.  Originally it only gave a counter when it ETB, but at the beginning of your upkeep, it dealt damage equal to the number of ice counters on it to a creature or player.  In combination with a few of the other cards in the deck, its original abilities made it way too strong.  What you see is the nerfed version.  We haven't tested this version yet, but it seems more reasonable.

These four cards form the rest of the core of the Red/X Ice counter deck.  Disciple of Gargut was less impressive than I expected, but still really good.  I was thinking about adding 1 colorless to his mana cost, but more playtesting is needed. Cover in Frost is the card that, when combined with Below Zero, is an absolute killer.  I like it in this deck to help get rid of a creature with the Disciple, and I think it will play nicely with the rest of the Ice counter team.

Both of these cards are singletons in the deck, but only Icy Excavation came up.  When I cast it, I drew 6 cards and lost 1 life.  This card needs to be tweaked.   I'd say adding an X to the mana cost and getting rid of the life loss might be the right fit.  A verdict is still out for the Parasite, but a colorless Control Magic probably needs to cost more, even with the drawback.

 Snowy Apex (and the rest of the cycle) was completely overhauled.  They originally only read" 1: Add R to your mana pool."  The clever part was that they were snow lands, so you could filter for a single color and for snow mana.  When I overhauled the snow costs to make it easier for players unfamiliar with the snow rules, I added the ability to tap it for S. It just feels bad not being able to tap your land for mana unless it's a really cool land (see Mammoth Lair from yesterday).

The last card I wanted to mention was Set Fire.  This is an homage to Electrostatic Bolt.  It's also awesome.

Thanks again for listening.  Make sure to tell your friends to check out the blog, and follow me on twitter and like the page on Facebook.

Playtesting Frostmere - Day 1, Part 1

Whew.


Hollee and I spent the better part of three hours playtesting a pair of decks I put together using mainly cards from Frostmere, a set I'm designing. 

Here are a few highlights from the first of the two decks:

Deck 1 - Hollee:  Since Hollee enjoys playing Green/White, I made her a Selesnya deck focusing of the Snowfall mechanic.  Here are a few key cards:

Brenish Hunter is the cornerstone of a good landfall deck in limited environments. When his ability triggers more than once a turn, he gets really mean.

This is the core of snow lands.  If you're familiar with how snow mana works, the main rule is -- Whenever you get mana from a snow permanent, that mana has the snow supertype.  In other words, you can use it for any costs that require snow mana.  To alleviate some of this confusion, I've added it as an option on each snow land that can produce mana in Frostmere.

Side note, all of these lands besides the Basic land changed from when we first started playtesting.  Hidden Embankment didn't tap for mana, and the Icicle Glade had a useless ability word, Frigid.  Frigid was supposed to read -- This enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another snow permanent.  I only ever put it on the two color lands, and it seemed unnecessary, so I removed it. The Mammoth Lair had a triggered ability to sacrifice it and put a token into play, but this version just feels better.

These two creatures, while not being snow themselves, really go along with the theme.  The Badger, while being immensely fun, is a hard guy to block.  It turns out that ability is a really good way to make blocking generally turn out in the Badger's favor.  The Paladin is also a really good card.  It turns out that an 8 point life swing for 3 mana might be too strong.

One other card worth mentioning is Justice of Ice.  This is part of a rare cycle of Snow Enchantments that have a Snowfall bonus.  This one  works really well with Brenish Hunter and is also cray in multiples.  A limited powerhouse, for sure.  This was costed at 1W originally, and it was WAAAYY to cheap, so I fixed it.

That's all for tonight, but don't fret. I will post the other deck's analysis tomorrow, so stay tuned!  Remember to follow me on twitter @madolaf, and like the Facebook page (facebook.com/olafscards) to keep up on updates.

Card of the Day - Embue Life

There is exactly one white rare sorcery that only costs W.  I asked Hollee to choose a picture from the internet for me to make into a second one.  This is what happened.

Edit:  I misspelled something! That's what happens when you get old. Thanks to Inanimate (and Hollee) for pointing it out to me.

Card of the Day - Thran Powerstone

This one's for Hollee, who is currently reading The Thran.

Card of the Day - Twinning

If you don't know already, Hollee is my special ladyfriend and it's her birthday today.   It's also her sister Amanda's birthday. They're both 24. That's almost a quarter century! This one's for the both of you.

Card of the Day - Cover In Magma

Lately, I've been asking Hollee for a color, mana cost, and rarity, and then I design a card based on those criteria. Today, she chose four red mana, which is a tough cost to work around.  With such a restrictive cost, a big spell is bound to happen.  I know that generally red doesn't do -1/-1 counters, but the flavor of this card was asking for it.

Card of the Day - Homeland Expedition

Used the same art from yesterday.  I made the card first, and then I decided that the art fit it rather well, so I went ahead and used it.  I asked Hollee and her sister for input on mana cost, card type, and rarity. 

Card of the Day - AEther Elemental

I've been playing a format with Hollee recently that forgoes mana costs.  You start with no hand (or sometimes with three, five, or seven cards), and you can play one spell a turn (or sometimes two or three.)  This card is designed for that format.  It would also be very good in a lot of other formats.  It's just a Confiscate tacked onto a big flier.

Card of the Day - Soultether Mantis

Me: Let's make a card together!
Hollee: OK!
Me: What's its power and toughness?
Hollee: 8/10!
Me: ok...  how bout it's mana cost?
Hollee: A green and a black.
Me: What kind of creature is it?
Hollee: A Mantis!  A Giant Mantis!
Me: Oh, you mean like this?
Hollee: My work is done.